Applause
by WingBladeWeaver1357
Summary: A magician reborn, what illusion will she perform next? "Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare yourself, for I am about to perform the biggest magic trick of all. To change the plot." OC. AU.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: After months and months of not returning, I'm finally back!

This is actually my first reincarnated Naruto story! It's been awhile since I make a fanfic about Naruto… since my crossover with KH I never thought of making another one because my past ones sucks… but thanks to reading many and many SI stories… I finally managed to make one of my own. But this is not a SI. An OC who's reincarnated actually.

Well hope you enjoy it. Peace out.

Summary:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare yourself, for I am about to perform the biggest magic trick of all. To change the plot."

* * *

Act 1  
The Magician

* * *

" _Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to tonight's show!"_

* * *

The moment when the nurse let him in after a painfully long four hours of wait.

It was official.

Fujino Tadashi was the happiest man alive.

"Congratulation, Fujino-san. You have a healthy baby girl." The midwife said, a smile on her face.

Tadashi didn't pay attention to the midwife's words. He was too busy staring to actually process the words he has to say.

Slowly, he moved. A foot after another, he came closer to his wife's bed.

His wife turned her head to look at her husband. "Tadashi, come and see your daughter." She said, a tired yet radiant smile gracing her lips.

Tadashi leaned closer to look at the bundle in his wife's arms. His teal-green eyes slightly widened when his wife showed the baby.

His little baby girl. His little princess. His precious daughter is beautiful.

The top of her head graced with soft auburn locks, just like him.

And the eyes, oh the _eyes_. The moment his eyes meet her own doe teal-green eyes. He was sure he melted on the spot.

He shakily lifted his hand. His large warm hand gently stroked his baby's head.

"My… daughter." His teal-green eyes suddenly watered, tears threatening to spill. He dropped down to his knees beside his wife's bed, his hand still cupping the baby's head. A grin made its way up to his lips as tears of joy rolled down his cheeks. "My beautiful, beautiful daughter." He lifted his other hand, lacing his fingers with his wife.

"Darling… are you actually crying?" His wife asked, amusement laced in her voice.

Tadashi sniffled. "Of course! This day marked the day when our beautiful angel is born!" he laughed. He couldn't stop grinning. He was too excited and happy to stop. "Tenshi. We're naming her Tenshi, Miwa!" he suggested enthusiastically.

Miwa stared at her husband. "No, Tadashi. No. We're not naming her Tenshi even though she is the angel in our lives." Her husband slumped his shoulder in disappointment, but he quickly recovered as he began to list out the perfect names for his newborn daughter. All of them rejected.

Miwa closed her eyes. "Haru… Haruka."

Tadashi blinked, stopping his never ending list of names. "Haruka?" he tilted his head to the side.

Miwa nodded. "She's born in the month of spring. Though, naming her after the Sakura trees would be—," she stopped when she saw the look in her husband's eyes.

"Haruka… Fujino Haruka…" Tadashi whispered. Another grin made its way up to his face and more tears of joy rolled down his cheeks. "Hahaha! Did you hear that my beautiful Aka-chan? From now on your name will be Fujino Haruka!"

Tadashi kissed his wife and smiled. The two of them stared at the bundle of joy in their arms, sharing the same smile.

"Our little Haru-chan."

* * *

" _Please give a round of applause for the Magician Extraordinaire!"_

* * *

April 4th I learned, was the day I was born.

My parents, Fujino Tadashi and Miwa, were such loving and doting parents. Especially dad. He spoils his little princess too much though.

Before Fujino Haruka, I was Megan Fox—famous actress

Okay well, not _the_ Megan Fox…

My name is or _was_ Megan Clark.

I was a magician.

I remembered my last show. I was performing in Las Vegas, along with a few other magicians. My family was watching. Mom, dad and my four siblings. It was the grand finale when everything happened. A fire broke out from the backstage. The fire spread so quickly. Up to the curtains and to the high ceiling. Everyone panicked as they rushed to get outside.

" _Sam! Sammy! Where are you? Honey, I can't find Sam!"_

" _Megan! Look after your brothers and your mother! I'm going back inside!"_

I remember going back inside to look for my sister.

" _Dad! I'll go! You don't know the place like I do!"_

I remember finding my sister near the aula.

" _Hey, hey, hey, don't cry. I'm here. Your magical awesome sister is here to save the day."_

I remember running to the exit. A few Firemen were making motions for us to hurry up.

I remember the chandelier falling down.

Time was ticking.

I remember throwing my little sister to safety.

" _Big sis!"_

I remember the pain of being crushed.

I died.

That was the end of Megan Clark, the Magician Extraordinaire, world renowned magician.

Yeah… it was unexpected. I kind of expected to die either from old age or because of my more dangerous magic tricks.

But I guess, knowing that I saved my sister from death is satisfying. I just hoped that they would forgive me if we ever meet in the afterlife, after you know… I die from this life.

After being…well… reborn, I wasn't too overwhelmed with feelings. It was just unexpected. Sure, I spaced out a lot thinking about it, but I eventually moved on over the whole reborn.

Sometimes, I wish I could be reborn in the Detective Conan series or in the Kindaichi one. I could meet the great and awesome magician, Kuroba Toichi or his son. I would really like to be his student. His magic tricks were spectacular. But noooo, it has to be Naruto.

I found out when mom took me out of the house to grandma's. I thought it was just a regular village, but when my baby eyes see the mountain with three faces. Oh snap.

"Oh? That's the Hokage Monument. That one is Hashirama-sama. The next one beside it is Tobirama-sama. And the last one is Sarutobi-sama. Our Sandaime."

So I was in the time before the third war or in the third war.

Both mom and dad were careful not to discuss things from the shinobi lives around the house.

But I'll admit. It is cool to be able to see ninja stuff from my own eyes, but there aren't any single magicians in this world.

Well… I guess it's better than Shingeki no Kyojin. I rather be alive and not live in fear of being eaten by Titans. Thank you very much.

Then again, I could be the greatest and the first magician the nations have ever seen!

Fujino Haruka, first ever magician.

Has a nice ring to it, huh?

* * *

"Haru-chan! Tou-chan is back!" Tadashi entered the house, calling my name cheerfully.

"Tadaima, tou-chan!" I ran as fast as my two-year old legs could, throwing myself at him. I wrap my arms around one of dad's legs. I tilted my head up, my teal-green eyes looked up to see dad's tired teal-green eyes. I have the same eye color as him, but Dad has the prettiest eyes. I know from the look in his tired eyes even if he covered it with his radiant smile. "Long day?" I asked.

Dad blinked. "Don't worry about it, Haru-chan." he gently stroked the top of my auburn hair. He smiled reassuringly, but I could still feel the strain behind his smile. "Besides… all of tou-chan's worries disappear when he sees you!" he crouched down, giving his all-time famous bear hug.

I giggled as he rubbed his cheek with mine. "Tou-chan!"

He's like the Maes Hughes of this world.

"Welcome back, darling." Miwa came from the kitchen, greeting her hubby. She gave him a peck on the cheek and took the coat off. "Dinner would be ready in a few. How about you two set the table?" she smiled.

We both gave a simultaneous 'hai', raising out hand above our head.

"Tou-chan, I learned how to count!"

"Oh? You did? Then count for me!" Dad grinned, eager to hear me count.

I placed the chopsticks down. "Ichi, ni, san," I kept on counting as I help dad place the tableware. "yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyu and finally—" I faced my dad, his face beaming with excitement.

"Ju!" the two of us shouted together. We laughed. "Haru-chan is so smart!" he patted my head.

Mom giggled and she placed the food on the table.

"Itadakimasu!" the three of us said in unison before digging in into our meals.

Since I'm only two, mom gave me a small portion. I slurped the miso soup and glanced over to mom as she started a conversation. "Honey, did you remember to hire a Genin team for tomorrow?"

Genin team? For what?

Dad visibly froze.

"Honey… you didn't forget now, did you?" Mom asked, giving a stare.

"N-No…" Did dad just stutter? Oh my gosh, he did! He did stutter! "B-But I can't leave my precious baby girl to a bunch of snotty unbehaved children! Why can't I just take her with me to work?" he whined.

Mom sighed. "You know that you can't. I believe their Jounin sensei are capable enough to supervise them." She reasoned.

Dad pouted. "Why can't you take her?"

"Yeah. Why can't you take me, kaa-chan?" I asked, nodding along.

"Your obaa-san has caught the flu and has asked me to take care of her. I don't want you to get caught with the flu too, Haru-chan." Her warm brown eyes glanced over to me, who kept a curious face on all the time. "You're a big girl now, right Haru-chan?"

I nodded happily. "Yeah!"

Well, yeah, I am technically a 28 year old woman.

"No! You can't grow up just yet, Haru-chan! Who would hug tou-chan? Who would kiss tou-chan's boo-boos away?" Dad cried comically.

I grinned. "Kaa-chan can do that!"

Dad stopped crying and turned to look at mom. "Kaa-chan always does that." He grinned, sending a wink.

"Ew! Are you going to do a smoochie-smoochie in front of me?!" Yeah, sometimes being a two-year old has it perks.

Mom blushed. "Tadashi!" she whispered, glaring at dad with her tomato-colored face. Mom cleared her throat. "B-But you did hire a Genin team, right?"

"Well…"

"Tadashi."

"Okay, okay! I did!"

Did I mention that I love them?

* * *

"Do you have your blocks?"

"Check!"

"Your crayons?"

"Check!"

"Good! You can throw it at them—!"

"Tadashi…"

"…be good, okay Haru-chan?"

I nodded. "Okay!"

Mom kissed my forehead. "They should be here soon." As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. "That must be them." She went towards the door while dad crouched down beside me.

Dad leaned closer, "Alright. You know what to do when they do something you don't like, right?" he whispered.

I nodded my head. "Make their babysitting mission a hard one!" I grinned. I actually like this plan. Messing with a bunch of Genin would be fun.

Dad ruffled my hair. "Good girl!"

"Tadashi. Haru-chan." the two of us glanced up at mom's voice. My eyes widened when they landed on the tall handsome blond behind her along with three other kids behind him. "Meet your babysitter."

The blond man gave a close-eyed smile. I could've sworn I saw rainbows and flowers behind him. "Good morning. I'm Namikaze Minato. I'm Team 7's Jounin instructor. And they are my students, Uchiha Obito." He motioned his hand to the black-haired boy.

Obito grinned. "Yo!"

Minato moved his hand. "Nohara Rin."

The only girl in the group smiled. "Hello."

"And finally, Hatake Kakashi."

And guess what he said.

"Hn."

Oh great… I didn't know Kakashi was secretly an Uchiha with a stick—

"This is Haru-chan." Mom's voice cut me off from my thoughts. She placed her hand on my back, giving me an encouraging push. "Say hi, Haru-chan."

I practiced this. I can do this.

I took a few steps forward, looking up to them, who stared at me with curious eyes. Except Kakashi.

I held out my hand, showing them it was empty. Minato chuckled as he crouched down to shake my tiny hand.

But I suddenly pluck out a flower from thin air. It appeared right before his eyes. He blinked at the sudden appearance.

"Hello! I'm Haruka! Nice to meet you, Minato-san!" I introduced, giving him my best grin.

I can't believe I just did that in front of the Yellow Flash!

Minato looked surprised and so did his students. He took the flower, smiling. "Thank you Haru-chan. It's nice to meet you too."

If this simple magic trick can amaze them.

Wait till they see the Magician Extraordinaire!

* * *

" _It's show time."_

* * *

A/N: Yeah… the summary isn't that good yet. I'll think of something.

Should I write it in a first pov or a third one? Or switch from time to time?

Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter.

R&R please!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: thank you guys! I didn't expect you guys to like the first chapter! But I'm so happy!

LadyLunaTwilight: Thank you!

PotAYto-PotAHto-Cat: hehe thanks!

SnowCatt: Me too! I don't like to write that detailed tricks because that would ruin the surprise for everyone and myself too. I love seeing magic tricks. So don't worry about anything being revealed, but the simplest tricks might be. I'll try not to ^^

Ninja99: Thanks ^^

XxOchibixx: Thank you

Fallen's child: Thank you so much!

Guest: 'Kay ;)

Hartz96: Thanks!

Naruto not mine, but the plot and OCs are

* * *

Act 2  
The Assistant

* * *

 _I was ten._

" _What do you want to be when you grow up, Meg?" Mom asked._

 _I was ten years old when they asked about who I want to be when I'm older._

 _Many times, they would ask the same question over and over again._

 _They would try to convince me to become something else._

 _Dad would raise an eyebrow, "Wouldn't you rather be a model or a successful doctor instead?"_

 _But no matter how many times they had asked, the answer would always be the same._

" _I wanna be a magician!"_

* * *

"If there's anything and I mean _anything_ don't hesitate to come and get me." Dad said seriously, giving Minato one of his looks.

Minato smiled. "I assure you, Fujino-san. I would come to you first if something ever happens." He's surprisingly a really patient man. Some people would lose theirs when dad begins to talk about me or mom. He's just so doting and protective when it comes to us. "You can trust my genin team, Fujino-san. They've done this a couple of times." He reassured and patted my head. "Haru-chan is in good hands."

"She better." I heard dad grumble.

Mom glared a little. She elbowed dad by his ribs, earning a small 'ouch'. "In that case, we'll leave Haru-chan in your hands, Minato-san." She bowed her head a little and dragged dad away.

"See you later, Haru-chan! Wait for papa to come home!" I heard him cry out dramatically.

I grinned, waving goodbye. "Bye-bye!"

As soon as mom and dad were out of view, Minato ushered me inside and closed the door behind him. "You have a very protective father, Haru-chan." He said.

"Yeah. He is, but I love him!" I said childishly.

Minato smiled and we both went to the living room. We found his team lounging around. Obito was dozing off on the couch, Rin was sitting beside him and of course Kakashi was being his grumpy and impatient self. As soon as they felt the presence of their instructor, Rin stood up and Kakashi turn to face his idol. Not all his students are responsive. Obito was still dozing off to dreamland.

Rin shook his shoulder. "Obito! Wake up!" she whispered.

Obito snapped his eyes wide open at the sound of his crush. "Wha— Rin! Is it over? Did her dad leave already?" he wiped the slobber from the corner of his mouth, yawning loudly.

"Obito! Don't be rude!" Rin scolded, her hands on her hips.

Kakashi clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Only an idiot would voice out his thoughts to a client."

"What did you just say, Bakashi?!"

Minato tried to calm them down, stepping in between the two boys. "Boys, boys, please control yourself. We're on a mission here."

"I don't consider babysitting a mission, Minato-sensei." The little silver-haired jerk said, crossing his arms. "There's nothing special about taking care of a snot-nosed brat." He huffed from his nose.

Gee… Thanks Kakashi. Really. Thank you. I feel so honored being baby sat by the famous copy—oh wait. That's right. You're just a brat too.

"Hey! Don't say that in front of Haru-chan, Bakashi! She can hear you, you know!" Obito quickly covered my ears—even though it was far too late for that. He turned me away from facing Kakashi and glared at said boy before turning his attention to me. "Don't listen to him, Haru-chan. He's always a jerk to everyone." He grinned.

I can't believe this kid's going to be the ultimate villain when he's older.

I mean, look at him! He's so goofy, cute and young! Did I mention goofy? Because he is! How old was he again?

"Don't worry, Obito-niisan! Otou-chan told me to never listen to anyone I don't like! Especially big jerks like Kakashi-niisan!" I said with all of the cuteness a two-year old could muster.

Obito dropped to his knees and laughed.

Rin shook her head at him before turning to me. "You speak really well, Haru-chan." She praised, giving the famous close-eyed anime smile.

I puffed out my chest proudly. "Otou-chan says that I'm smart! I can count from one to ten now!"

Kakashi scoffed. "That's not—," before he could even finish, Minato covered his mouth. "That's really impressive, Haru-chan. You sure are a smart girl." Minato continued for his student.

I grinned up at him.

"What do you want to do now, Haru-chan? We still have a few hours before lunch." It was Rin who asked. I thought for a moment before smiling. I grabbed her hand with my chubby ones, dragging her into the kitchen. I asked politely for her to grab a cup from the cabinets while I look for yesterday's newspaper. She set it on the table, tilting her head curiously. "What are you going to do with these, Haru-chan?" she asked.

I look at the items set on the table. A cup and a newspaper. "You'll have to see, Rin-neesan!" I turn to look at Kakashi, motioning for him to come closer. At first, he didn't, but with a push from his teacher, he grumpily made his way towards me.

I decided to put on a small show for this genin squad.

"What do you want?" Kakashi glared.

I blinked my eyes up at him, putting on a confused look. "Kakashi-niisan, you have something behind your ear!" I pointed my finger to his right ear.

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't have anything—," since we were closer, I reached my hand out and took the item behind his ear.

"See! You have a 100 ryo coin behind your ear!" I showed him the coin.

Obito looked impressed. "Wow! I didn't know you have coins in your ears! If I know sooner I would've ask for you to pay for our lunches with those!" he said, inspecting the 100 ryo coin in my hand.

Kakashi glared at him. "Idiot. She could've used a trick to do that."

Minato was quiet in the background. "What are you planning to do with the coin, Haru-chan?" he asked, smiling.

I motioned my hand for them to stand on the other side of the table. I sat on the high-chair and stretched out my arms dramatically. "I'm going to make the coin disappear!" I shouted to the small audience.

"Eh?!" Both Rin and Obito exclaimed. "That's impossible! You're two! How can you learn a jutsu already?!" the Uchiha yelled, pointing his index finger at me.

I wiggled my finger at him. "No. No. No! I'm not going to perform a jutsu! This is magic! And I'm two and a half, for your information." I placed the coin on the table and placed the clear plastic cup over it. I showed them the paper and wrapped it tightly around the cup. "Now look at the coin! It's still there, right?" I asked, lifting the cup up for them to look at the coin.

Obito leaned forward, staring at the coin.

I placed the cup down again. "Abracadabra!" I shouted the magic words before lifting the cup again. I blinked confusedly when the coin was still there. "Eh?"

Rin smiled nervously. "Wow! I can't believe the coin disappeared!" she acted and I caught on the nods her teammates gave her.

"I didn't even know a two-year old could do that! Awesome job, Haru-chan!" Obito seemed to caught on Rin's plan.

Minato clapped his hands. "That was a really great trick, Haru-chan."

"I can still se—!" Obito quickly covered Kakashi's mouth again. This was the third? No, second time someone covered Kakashi's sharp tongue.

To other two year olds this was a great achievement.

But to me, I think I feel insulted.

I decided to play along. "Hehe! Ta-da!" I bowed my head and held the cup. "Thank you! Thank you!" I slammed the cup to the table, reviling that the coin didn't disappear, but instead the cup did. "Eh?"

"EH?!" Obito's exclamation was by far the loudest I've ever heard. "What—there—where—how?!" he checked the paper over and over again, trying to smooth out the wrinkles.

Rin look as surprised as Obito. Although, Kakashi and Minato seemed surprised as well, Minato quickly changed his expression to an impressed one.

"That was unexpected." Minato said, smiling a little.

This time they weren't acting their amazement.

I bowed my head and grinned. I don't feel so insulted anymore. "Thank you! Thank you!"

"Cih. She probably hid the cup on her lap or something." Kakashi grunted.

Well, almost…He was too grumpy to admit my awesomeness anyway.

But c'mon Kakashi, admit it. You were dumbstruck for a moment there too.

I can see it in your eyes~

"Don't ruin it! That was awesome!" Obito raised his fist threateningly at his frenemy. "Haru-chan, don't listen to him, okay? What you did was really, really, really cool! Even I can't do that!" he praised.

Aww shucks… I'm blushing here!

"Hehe, thanks, Obito-niisan!"

Kakashi scoffed. "That's because you're an idiot. You can't even do a proper jutsu." The little asshole said.

Way to ruin the mood Bakashi.

"What?!" Something seem to snap inside Obito. The moment those words left Kakashi's mouth, the black haired boy lunged at the shorter kid. I can't believe two kids that would me super strong men in the future were fighting like little children in my kitchen. Well, they are children, but they are genin now. So I guess that marks them as adults in this world.

"Boys! Not in front of Haru-chan!" Rin tried to pry off Obito from Kakashi. "At least do it outside!" she huffed.

"Does this happen a lot?" I asked the blond man as we watch from the sidelines.

Minato laughed nervously. "Pretty much every day."

I feel you, Minato. As the eldest to four younger siblings. I understand you fully.

I turned to face him and showed him a deck of cards.

He tilted his head, staring at the cards.

I grinned. "Want to see a cool card trick?"

* * *

After Minato broke the fight between Kakashi and Obito, Rin suggested that I need more open air and kids my age to play around with. I was content with practicing my skills at home, but I guess playing outside and meeting kids my age would be great for my health.

Back in my old life, I was a pretty social kid. Befriending here and there. A couple of kids who dislikes me. Yup. Your typical childhood. But this time, it was different. I could be anyone I like. I could be the smart and cold kid, the cool one, the shy one, the hyper one or even the lazy one. Each of the first impression would lead to the personality I grew up in. That and depending on the society I hung around with.

I could go with the smart and cool one… but being smart and cool one every time is kind of overrated. There's just too many smart and cool characters in this Anime. I'm not really shy, actually, I'm not shy at all.

Why do I suddenly feel like Amu?

…

I think I'm just going to be myself. Yeah.

I could impress them with a couple of small tricks. This might be my first step to become famous! What better way to become famous than over exaggerated story telling from children to their parents?

Man… I'm a genius.

"You're creepy."

I turned to look at the person who said that. I frowned at him. "You look like a creep with that mask." I huffed and threw my face from looking at him.

"I'm not the one who's grinning to herself." Kakashi shot back.

"I'm two and a half! I can grin anytime I want!" I stuck my tongue out at him as I walk along with Rin and Obito. I held Rin's hand, playing the role of the happy little girl who's going to the park.

Minato concluded that Kakashi and I don't really get along that well, but I can act long enough to convince him that I'm buddy-buddy with the stick in the mud.

"Alright, here we are. Konoha's Playground." Rin announced.

I look straight ahead and had to hold the urge to twitch.

Once we arrive at the park, it was crowded… with children and adults alike. The problem was… I never remember it being this scary. Children were running around, playing ninja tag, throwing rubber shurikens at one and another. The screaming and squealing were a bit too much for me. I was used to the applause and whistles in the end of each trick I performed. One thing's for sure, these kids sure play rough.

"Don't worry, Haru-chan. You would make lots of new friends here." Rin gave a reassuring squeeze. "And we'll be watching you. We are your babysitter. So if anything bad happens we'll be there for you!" she smiled.

I'm not scared. I'm just…excited.

"Now go on and have some fun!" Obito added before giving me a light push towards the group of children.

I glanced back to look at Team Minato one last time. I took a deep breath and saw the group of kids. They were around a year or two older than me. It's cool.

I approached them and once they noticed I was standing there, I smiled. "Hello!" I waved my hand in greeting.

I was expecting a 'hello'.

"You have weird eyes."

… I did not expect that.

"You're so short!"

And that too.

"What's with that ugly jacket anyway?"

Or that…

To put it simply… these kids were brutal.

I just continue to smile. Kids are kids. "My name's Fujino Haruka! Nice to meet you all!"

These kids don't scare me.

I'm mentally twenty-eight for Pete's sake.

"Go away! We don't want to play with a shorty like you!" One of the bigger kids said, shooing me away with his hand.

So much for my big performance…

I shrugged and left the group of bullies to find other kids that would like to be friends with me.

Turns out it was harder than it looks. These group of kids tend to stick together and follow each other's thoughts. And when I was about to show a simple yet impressive trick, they would dismiss me in a second after finding out the older kids rejected to play with me.

What did their parents teach them anyway?

No. Seriously. _What_ did they teach them?

I sighed looking around the playground. There were no more groups for me to approach. I guess it's time to close the curtains and wait for the next show to begin. I was about to go back to Team Minato, who had been watching all this time. I saw the look of pity… or was it sympathy? Obito gave a small smile. Perhaps Obito is relating himself to me because we are the same when he tried to find a friend when he was young too? I did remember he has a hard time befriending everyone because he was labeled as an Uchiha.

Kids were jealous of the Uchihas because of their perfect scores and skills. At least, that's what I learn from reading and watching the anime. I don't blame them. Although I won't show it, I'm kind of jealous when they can copy everything with their eyes in just a brief look. But I'm a professional, I have to put up a cool poker face to fool everyone.

I gave one last look around and found a mob of black hair without any other mobs of colorful hair. I stared. He was alone. Sitting by the empty swings. He looks lonely.

I took a deep breath and marched my way towards the boy. As soon as I was in front of him, I cleared my throat, making him look up.

He… seemed familiar.

"Hello! I'm Haruka! Nice to meet you!" I introduced, pulling out a flower out of thin air. It was one of the simplest trick in the book. He looked surprised before taking the flower from my hand. "What's your name?"

He kept on staring. His dark brown-almost black eyes seemed to bore into my soul. Well I might be a bit exaggerating about the whole 'bore into my soul'. It's just that he's been staring so intensely at me.

"How old are you?" I asked again.

Still no respond.

I kept quiet, patiently waiting for him to answer.

He opened with mouth. The first thing he said was, "You have weird eyes."

I smiled. Again with the eyes. What's wrong with teal-green?

"But they're very pretty…"

…

Awwww. "Thank you! You're the first one to compliment it!" I grinned happily.

"Really?" He tilted his head. "But they're so pretty. I haven't met anyone with eyes like yours." He complimented.

I scratched the back of my head with a sheepish smile. "Hehehe. What's your name by the way?" I asked again.

The boy finally grinned and gripped my outstretched hand, gently shaking it up and down while holding the flower in his other hand.

"I'm Shisui! And you have to tell me how to pull a flower from air!"

Shisui…

Shisui…

Where have I heard that before?

…

…

…Oh… _oh_ … I remember now.

He's _Uchiha_ Shisui. Itachi's best friend. Shunshin no Shisui. Master of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

How could I forget? Stupid. Stupid.

…then again, having Shisui my very first audience besides Team Minato is awesome. Especially when he began to ask questions about my flower trick.

My very first kohai… my new assistant!

This is so awesome.

* * *

A/N:

Thank you so much for everyone who has favorited and followed this story! I love you guys so much!

What do you guys think of this chapter? I hope everyone's in character… hehe

R&R please~!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I don't have much to say…but please enjoy this chapter!

Sazaleli: Here's another magical chapter XD

Kirika o7: thank you!

KumorikoKumoriko: Here's another chapter!

Paprika: XD Thanks!

SnowCatt: The whole trick is to make the cup disappear. The coin is only a distraction.

Kejmur: Thanks!

Guest: Aww thank you!

MoonRaven95: Hahaha thank you!

Ninja99: Yeah, he's so sweet!

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

Act 3  
The Beautiful Habanero

* * *

"Again! Show it to me again! This time, I'm sure I'll get it!"

"This is the _twelfth_ time, Shisui."

"I'm sure I'll get it on the _thirteenth_."

I hold the urge to sigh. "People don't just learn it in a day, you know. Took me a few months to learn this." I admitted. When I was just a kid in my previous life, it really did take me months to perfect the flower trick. "I'm sure with practice, you'll learn it in no time!" I pulled out another flower and gave it to him. Again.

"No wonder you're so good!" Shisui complimented, staring at the bunch of flowers I pulled out when I was demonstrating the trick to him. The flowers vary from daffodils to dandelions. It was enough to make a small bouquet. "But I'm sure I can do it just as well as you." He grinned, holding the bouquet.

I grinned in return. Shisui… well, he's a very persistent little kid, that's for sure. He's pretty easy to amazed. Every tricks and I mean every tricks that I did amazed him! Even the classic 'coin behind the ear' trick. Yeah, I'm going to be broke after this. And I'm only two and a half!

It's a good thing mom and dad always give me spare change from shopping in the market.

I'm going to need more money if I'm going to teach Shisui this trick.

And flowers… never forget the flowers.

…It's a good thing I like you Shisui.

"How many flowers can you pull out anyway? There seem to be no end of it!" Shisui exclaimed, tilting his head confusedly.

I smirked and flip my bangs. "I have lots because you'll never know how much pretty ladies and pretty men you'll meet in a day!" I finished with a dramatic pose, my nose stuck up high and my eyes closed.

Shisui gave me a look.

A minute passed and he was still giving me that look.

I held up my hands in surrender. "Okay! Okay! Kidding!" I laughed and crossed my arms. "It's because I'm a Magician!" I gave a dramatic throw of a handful of streamers and confetti to the air.

"A magi-what?" Shisui look dumbfounded with the word, patting the confetti off from his hair. "What kind of word is that?"

Why do I get a feeling that I'm going to explain more than once? Oh yeah, no magician here. Duh. I knew that…

"A magician is someone who does illusion that seems impossible. Like this." I moved my hands in front of each other quickly and three marbles appeared in between my fingers. Shisui kept his eyes on the marbles, waiting something to happen to them. I threw them in the air and caught them with one hand. I pulled out a white handkerchief and covered my hand that was holding the marbles. "Place your hand over mine and let's count to three." I told him.

Shisui nodded.

"One, two, three!" The two of us shouted in unison. I pulled the handkerchief and opened my palm. The marbles were replaced by a small bird. Shisui looked even more amazed. His mouth was wide open and his eyes seemed to sparkle. I let the bird fly away, staring at it as it went into the trees above us. "Basically, a magician is a person who has awesome skills."

I think the Hetalia fandom wants their Prussian back.

Hah. Kidding. It's just the awesome little me.

"That was awesome! How did you even fit a bird into your palm!" Shisui beamed, holding my hand to inspect it. He turned my hand a few times, trying to figure out the trick. He didn't ask how did I do it, but how did I fit it. For a kid, he's a one smart cookie. Suddenly, he gave me a stink eye. "Did you cast a genjutsu on me? Kai!" he frowned before forming his hands to a release sign.

I'm honored that the Uchiha Shisui thinks that I'm awesome and all, but slightly offended that he thinks that I used genjutsu to perform all of my tricks.

I place my hand on my chest, looking offended. "I would never! My magic tricks are purely done from my skillful and awesome hands. How could you accuse me of such things, my new friend?" I dramatically place the back of my hand on my head. I peeked through one eye and found that he was trying to hold his laughter.

Finally, he laughed.

"You're so dramatic that it's actually funny!" he said between laughs.

I found pride in making people laugh from my dramatic self. "Thank you! Thank you! It's all in a day's work of a magician!"

"Haru-chan! It's time to go! We're going to eat lunch!" Que the other un-Uchiha-like boy. I turned around and waved my hand, signaling that I heard him.

I turn back to face Shisui. "Would you like to join us, pal?" I invited. Can't have my bestie starve, now can I?

Shisui grinned. "I would love to! But you still have to teach me how to do the flower trick." He said as we both walked to Team Minato.

I wiggled my eyebrow at him. "Trying to impress a girl, eh?"

"I'm three!" Shisui protested, flailing his arms around.

"And I'm two and a half." I grinned.

Minato blinked at the sight of a second party. "A friend of yours, Haru-chan?" he asked with a smile.

"It's Minato-san! The Yellow Flash!" Shisui whispered to me, beaming like a kid who met his hero.

"Uh-huh!" I nodded my head. "He's Shisui! Can he join us for lunch, Minato-san?" I asked, cutely. I pulled the puppy-eyes card at him. Nobody, and I mean nobody can resist these two-year old's puppy eyes. That's the benefit for being a kid. You get everything you want when you pulled the card.

"Well…"

"Ah! It's you!" Obito suddenly exclaimed, pointing his finger at Shisui. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Shisui grinned. "I'm going to go to lunch with you, cuz!" he answered.

Oh yeah, Uchihas. They're Uchihas. Cousins. Of course.

Obito looked like he was debating whether to let his younger cousin join us for lunch or not. He averted his eyes to me and I pulled the puppy look at him. His left eye twitched and his eyes went back to Shisui who also pulled the puppy look. But of course, mine's way cuter. Finally, he let out a deep sigh.

"Don't worry Minato-sensei… I'll pay for my cousin." Obito slumped his shoulders in defeat. I bet he was imagining his wallet getting lighter.

Being the generous sensei Minato is, he said: "It's alright, Obito. It's my treat today."

Ding! Que the sound of bells ringing in Obito's ears. He looked so happy.

"Really?! Thank you, Minato-sensei!" Obito cried, wiping the tears away.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Idiot." He said.

Obito didn't pay attention to him. "So where are we going to eat?" he asked eagerly.

I think I know where.

This is the place that all characters seemed to eat.

I'll give a hint.

It's start with the letter 'I' and ends with a 'U'.

I grab Rin's hand as we walk towards our destination. Shisui walked beside me, chatting about the tricks I performed. I explained very little because what fun would the trick be if I told him exactly how I did it.

About ten minutes or so we arrived at the restaurant.

And boy was I wrong.

"Do you like yakiniku, Haru-chan? Shisui-chan?" Minato asked as a smile appeared.

I was sure he was going to take us to Ichiraku Ramen.

Well… it has an 'I' and end with a 'U', right?

…wait a minute. Why didn't he take us to Kushina's favorite place to eat? Minato always wants to be near Kushina. Could it be? Could it be that they haven't met?!

Could it be that he's still single?!

"Oh! Minato!"

…nah.

Who am I kidding. He's gorgeous. He has to have a girlfriend.

You're so lucky Kushina.

"Kushina, right on schedule." Minato turned around to face the red-head.

I also turned to face the red-head. Whoever said Kishimoto-senpai can't draw females is downright wrong! Kishimoto-senpai, I'm referring to you.

I mean, Kushina looks absolutely gorgeous! Her hair is just like what everyone would describe. Long, beautiful and most of all red. Her eyes are a pretty violet too. She was wearing the standard jounin uniform. Her hair wasn't styled in a ponytail like I imagined she would. It was let loose down her back.

OMG, I get to see Kushina in battle-mode-uniform! How cool is that?

"Who's the kid?" Kushina pointed her finger at me.

I was too busy staring at her to respond.

Three words for you, Kushina. You. Look. Fabulous.

Rin giggled and decided to introduce me to the famed Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. "Kushina-san, this is Haru-chan." She said.

Kushina grinned and crouched down to my eye level. "Nice to meet you, kiddo." She ruffled my hair.

I cleared my throat and moved my hand in front of her face. You know the drill. I pulled a red rose out of the air and gave a charming smile. "For you! A red rose to match your pretty red hair, pretty lady!" I tilted my head cutely.

"Seriously?!" Shisui shouted over the silence.

I blame myself for disguising as both males and females for far too much than I need to. I used to be one of the master of disguises. It was awesome disguising myself as someone else. My personal favorite is 'the sleepy but funky old man'. I think it works just like the transformation technique here. Now if only this world has latex to make masks…

Kushina suddenly pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. "Awwww you're just so cute!" she squealed, rubbing her cheek with mine. She lifted me up and carried me on her hip. She took the rose happily and pointed it at Minato. "Why can't you be as romantic as this kid?" she pouted.

"Kushina… she's two—," que a cough from me. "—and a half." Minato looked nervous.

"Clearly she knows how to be more romantic than you." Kushina retorted, giving a semi pout and glare. "You could learn a thing or two from, Haru-chan." She said before entering the restaurant, Rin following behind her.

Minato followed, along with his two ducklings and Shisui. "You're asking me to learn from a two and a half year old?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, an amused smile on his lips.

We sat down by a large table. I sat between Shisui and of course the fabulous Kushina. Rin sat next to Shisui, near us. In case we need some assistance, which I doubt I'll need any. I can use chopsticks. Really. Moving on. Minato, Obito and Kakashi sat opposite of us.

But anyway, Minato, _the_ Yellow Flash, has to learn how to be a romantic from _moi_? That's French for me, by the way.

But seriously… I think my little heart can't take much more of this ego-boost.

"What can you learn from her anyway? She can't even put her own sandals." Kakashi snorted, giving me the stink eye.

Thanks Kakashi. I needed that.

"C'mon Bakashi! What did she ever do to you?!" Obito yelled, raising a fist at him.

"She's wasting my time." Kakashi shot back.

"She's our mission, you dumbass!"

Kushina bonked both of Kakashi's and Obito's head with her mighty fists of fury.

"That hurts! What was that for, Kushina-san?!"

"Cih!"

Kushina glared at the two boys, her hair flying all around her. "No cursing in front of these precious children!" she huffed angrily.

Obito and Kushina continued to argue back and forth, but not without Obito trying to drag in Kakashi in the fight.

Minato raised the menu a little higher, shrinking in his seat. "So… um… what would you two like?" he asked.

"Anything would be fine, Minato-san." Shisui said politely. I guess he really does idolize Minato.

"Ice cream!" I shouted happily.

Rin giggled. "Don't spoil your lunch, Haru-chan. You can eat ice cream after lunch." She chided like a mother.

"Awww… okay, Rin-neesan." I slumped my shoulders in disappointment. Minato told the nice waitress what our order is while ignoring the bickering between his girlfriend and his students. I played with the cheap wooden chopsticks, twirling one of the sticks between my fingers.

"Are you going to do a trick with it?" Shisui suddenly asked, eager in his voice.

I blinked before grinning. "Now that you mention it… yup!" I reach inside my jacket, searching for a pencil. I pulled out a pencil and gave it to him. I also gave him one of the chopstick that I have. He stared at the items confusedly. "Write anything you like on one side of the chopstick." I instructed.

"Anything?" Shisui asked and I nodded. I moved closer and stared at him with a small glare.

Kanji. It has to be kanji.

You just have to write your name in kanji… and with a little heart too.

I _love_ you Shisui. Do you know that?

Please note the sarcasm.

He seemed to notice the small glare I'm giving him. He stopped writing. "Is there something wrong?" he asked, tilting his head.

I force a very convincing laugh. "Nope! It's just that your writing's so…girlish!" I sniggered as his flustered face.

"I-It's not girly! I write like a man!" Shisui argued, glaring at me, but of course he was failing with that blush.

"Yeah… I love the heart you put at the end." I pointed out with a smirk.

"It's not a heart! It's the Uchiha crest!" He huffed.

I took a closer look and I guess you could call it a fan. "Maybe you should work on your drawing skills than your penmanship." Personally, I still call it a heart.

"Can you just show me the magic trick?" Shisui groaned. He covered his face with his hands to hide his embarrassment. I sniggered behind my hand and pulled out another chopstick, the pair with the one he wrote on. I took the one he wrote on and showed it to him and Rin, since she was the only _adult_ who was paying attention to us. "What kind of magic trick is this?" he stared intently at his chopstick.

"You'll see!" I chirped.

"Now this is your chopstick, right?" I asked, showing the chopstick with his writing on it to him. I spin the chopstick around, showing the side with the writing and the other empty side. I saw Shisui nodded his head. Rin also nodded her head. I grinned. "How about we make it even?" I moved the chopstick quickly.

"Wow! Now my writing's on both sides!" Shisui exclaimed as I kept on showing both sides of the chopstick.

I showed them my chopstick. "Now look at mine." I quickly showed both sides. "Let's share your writing on mine, Shisui!" I tapped the empty chopstick with Shisui's and magically, mine has Shisui's writing on one side.

"My writing is only on one side and now yours have my handwriting too!" Shisui looked amazed. "How did you do that?!"

I laughed at his expression. I'll never get tired of it. Really. His expression is just so funny. "Here, you can have them as souvenirs." I gave him the chopsticks.

"Really? Thanks!" Shisui beamed.

"That was amazing, Haru-chan!" Rin clapped her hands. "You'll make a very good kunoichi when you grow older." She smiled.

I smiled at her.

To be, or not to be a kunoichi... that is the question.

The answer's really obvious.

* * *

A/N:

A little shorter than the other previous two chapters..., but tell me what you guys think.

Now Shisui seemed a little… too cheerful, but he's a kid right? He'll grow up to be the Shisui we all know and love due in time.

And Haru's a bit childish too for a 28 year old, but that's because she's an entertainer. Her career as a magician and life would be explain in future chapters ^^

Thank you so much for those who have reviewed, faved and followed this story! I love you guys so much!

Ciao until the next chapter~


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: here's the next chaper! I hope you guys like it! Author's note at the end of the chapter ;)

Guest: thank you!

Kirika o7: haha me too!

Iizyeh2000: Thank you!

Guest: thanks!

Art is an Eternal Bang: thank you!

Paprika6: thanks!

Naruto05: here's the next chapter!

Guest: haha it's okay and here's the next chapter

Slytherson: aww that would be a very cute idea!

Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

Act 4  
Seeking

* * *

"How's your ice cream, Haru-chan?"

"Really good, Minato-san!"

After lunch, just like Rin promised, I got my ice cream! It was sea salt flavored. You know the blue one, that's salty but sweet? The one that can be shared because of the two sticks. I shared mine with Rin of course, since they think that eating two will be too much for me. Though I like the flavor, I'm a little upset that they don't have coffee caramel fudge or mint with chocolate chips and fudge brownies.

Best of all, guess who's riding on Minato's shoulder? Me of course! The Yellow Flash offered this adorable little girl to sit on his shoulder while eating ice cream as long as I don't let any drip on his fabulous hair.

"What's the matter, Bakashi? Don't wanna take a bite?" Obito shoved his half-eaten ice cream to Kakashi's face, teasing the stuck-up boy.

Kakashi glared at the sweet treat, his eyes narrowing. "I don't want to eat something that's been eaten by you. It's disgusting." He threw his face away, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What do you mean disgusting?!" Obito yelled angrily, clearly offended.

"Boys, boys! Calm down!" Minato stood between the two, giving me a view of the top of their hair. Boy! They were tiny compared to Minato!

Kakashi was too cool for ice cream, but I think that he just wants to keep his baby face hidden until 466 episodes later. Or in this case, around fifteen more years perhaps? Yeah, I think that's right.

Too bad Shisui and Kushina can't join us. Kushina has to meet up with her bestie, I assume it's Mikoto, and she offered to take Shisui back to the Uchiha compound. I learned that the Uchiha compound is not far from the Hyuuga. It wasn't isolated from the rest of the village, but I just guess that the Kyuubi attack didn't happen yet.

"Just you wait! When I became chuunin, I'm going to crush you!" Obito shouted.

Oh yeah, he became chuunin around eleven… and get crushed by a frigging boulder around thirteen. Not a very good way to celebrate Kakashi's promotion to jounin. I'm turning three next year in April. I have around two years to try and warn Obito about the incident without telling him he's going to get crushed by a giant rock. I mean if I did tell him straight forwardly, he might get scared and back down from being a shinobi.

If I don't… then he might become Madara's goons or more precisely Zetsu's goons.

"Why so quiet, Haru-chan? You didn't drop any on my hair now, did you?" Minato asked in a teasing voice.

I laughed, shaking my head. "Nu-uh! I was just thinking!"

"Oh? What are you thinking about?" He asked.

I hummed, placing a finger on my chin. "I was thinking about ice cream!" I cheered happily, throwing my hand in the air while taking a bite from the ice cream. I scrunch my nose when the brain freeze came. Ugh.

Rin giggled. "You're going to spoil your dinner if you keep on eating ice cream, Haru-chan." She said, looking up to me on Minato's shoulder. "You should eat more vegetables and one day you will become strong." She winked.

I stink my tongue out. "Bleh! I hate vegetables!" because kids do hate vegetables. I kinda like vegetables, except broccoli, I hate broccoli, but kids liking vegetables? I think it's too perfect if a kid loves vegetables. "They're icky and green! And gross!" I huffed.

"I agree Haru-chan! They're icky!" Obito said, appearing beside Minato. I reached my hand out to him and he got the picture. He high-fived with me and grinned. "Meat is better than vegetables!" he laughed.

"Obito! You're a shinobi! You should eat healthier food!" Rin chided, a hand on her hip as she gave him a slight glare. One thing I learn about Rin today is that her angry or stern face is…not very good. Her face's too pretty to do any of that. Her face muscles aren't made for that. I found it interesting.

One day I might have to disguise myself as her and I need to gather a person's character to the core. I don't need a jutsu to impersonate someone. I just need some make up, wigs and latex masks to do it. It's harder than the jutsu, but I'm sure that it's going to be super awesome because I don't think the Uchiha's Sharingan can look through my disguise. Not a jutsu! It's pure skills! Haha!

"Y-Yes Rin-chan." Obito replied, scratching the back of his head. His cheeks were red from embarrassment. Ah…young love.

I sniggered behind my hand. I finished my share of ice cream and Obito was kind enough to throw my stick to the trashcan. Not like someone I know… that's right Kakashi, I'm looking at you.

"Are you tired, Haru-chan?" Minato asked.

I shook my head. "Nope! Nu-uh! No way! I'm not sleepy! I can play all day!" I puffed my chest out smugly.

"Sure you are." Minato said. I think that was sarcasm.

Really! I'm not sleepy!

We're on our way back to my house, since it's almost time for my nap. Just so you know, I don't take naps. The Magician Extraordinaire don't take naps. I just make my parents or anyone babysitting me think that I'm having my nap.

Suddenly a yawn escaped my lips, making everyone, but Kakashi, giggled or in Minato and Obito's case…manly giggles.

Just this once. I think I'm gonna take a nice long nap.

* * *

"Haru-chan! I'm home!"

"Tou-chan! Welcome home!"

It was after five that dad decided to slam the front door open. I ran up to him and he embraced me tightly, giving my cheeks kisses. I laughed when he lifted me up and carried me on his hip.

"Did you miss me? I'm sorry I couldn't come home earlier!" Dad apologized as he entered the house and closed the door behind him.

I shook my head. "It's okay! I had fun! Obito played blocks with me!" I told him. I woke up around an hour and played blocks with Obito before dad came. I had fun making castles with him. We even roleplayed a little. He was the brave shinobi who battled thousands of evil shinobis to rescue the princess, which is me, I wanted to be the magician, but he said the princess role is the only available role. Apparently the evil shinobi is Kakashi, so we annoyed the heck out of him for fun. "And we played lots of things too! It was really fun!"

Dad gasped dramatically. "Even more fun that playing with your tou-chan?!"

I giggled. "Nope! Different!"

Dad kissed my forehead before he politely showed the babysitting team the door. "Thank you so much for babysitting my daughter, Namikaze-san." He said and the two shook hands.

Minato smiled. "No problem at all, Fujino-san. Your daughter is very talented, that's for sure." He said.

"Goodbye, Haru-chan! We'll see you later!" Rin waved goodbye.

"Next time, I'll even let you be the brave shinobi!" Obito grinned.

"Hn." Kakashi grunted.

I grinned happily. "I like having you guys for a babysitter! I hope you guys can play with me again!" I smiled cutely and waved my hand goodbye. We watch as the team of four walk away and disappeared into the main street. I turned to face dad. "Where's kaa-chan?" I asked.

Dad suddenly froze. "Uh… you see…"

I blinked. She… she…she didn't really… you know…?

It's a bit too early for a tragic backstory isn't it?

Am I really losing my mom this early?

"Your obaa-san's flu is… far worse than expected so she has to stay over for the night."

Oh… _oh_ ….

Fuh! Thank Kami! I thought mom was gone forever!

I sighed in relief. "So what's for dinner?" I asked.

Dad froze again. "W-We're going out for dinner, Haru-chan." He stuttered.

My dad might be the best dad in the whole shinobi nations, but his cooking is downright terrible! I don't think his cooking is edible! He tried to cook something special for me once and it didn't turn out pretty. He tried making miso soup, but it turned to something what I call a nightmare! It was black and it has scrambled tofu floating around the surface. This is why mom does all the cooking.

"Can we go now? After playing I'm hungry!" I patted my stomach.

Dad laughed. "Now? Are you sure?"

I nodded my head. "Uh-huh! The good restaurant's going to be full if we go late!"

"If you say so!"

He placed me down and held my hand. He locked the house and we were off to the market! We rarely went out to eat because mom's cooking is already delicious! But in this case, I need real food and my poor stomach can't handle dad's special.

We walked along the street of restaurants. I took a whiff and everything smells so good! But dad wasn't stopping or even looking at the restaurants! He just kept on walking straight to who knows where. I just go along with him. Whatever place he picks, I'll go with it! Well, as long as it doesn't have black miso or broccoli, I'm in.

We eventually stopped in front of a small restaurant. It was between two large ones that has plenty of hungry customers waiting in front. Compared to the two, it was barely noticeable if it wasn't for the light colored doors. Dad slide the door open and we entered the restaurant. It wasn't too fancy, but it has a homey feeling to it. There were stools by the bar and a few tables too. No one was inside, but it's a plus for me because the two of us are very loud! Dad closed the door behind him when a man came out from to greet us.

"Tadashi!" The man greeted with a laugh. "It's rare for you to come during dinner. What brings you here?" he leaned over the counter.

Dad sheepishly scratch the back of his neck. "Miwa's not home tonight." He said as he sat on the stool and helped me to sit beside him.

"Hahaha! Figures!" the man barked out a laugh. He placed the drinks in front of us when he finally noticed the little girl sitting beside her dad. "And who's this little angel?"

"My daughter, Haru-chan! Isn't she just the cutest?!" Dad gushed. He suddenly went to 'Maes Hughes' mode.

I smiled cutely and waved my hand. "Hello! I'm Haruka! But people call me Haru for short!" I introduced cheerfully.

The man laughed again. "Why it's nice to finally meet you Haru-chan. I'm Dai, your tou-chan's friend." He introduced, giving a smile. He leaned closer and covered his mouth with his hand. "Just between you and me, your tou-chan is really bad at cooking." He whispered.

I giggled. "I know! I tried his famous black miso!" I whispered back.

Dai placed a hand on his chest, shaking his head. "Oh kid… I feel so sorry for you." He said with his eyes closed. "You know what? I'll cook you my famous gyozas for free! Considered it as a gift because your tou-chan almost poisoned you with his terrible cooking." He grinned.

"What?! Dai!" Dad shouted, completely embarrassed.

"Oh don't deny it, Tadashi. Your cooking sucks. Even your daughter hates it, isn't that right Haru-chan?" Dai turned to me, giving a smirk.

I nodded my head and turned dad. "I love you tou-chan, but I can't eat your food." I smiled.

"Haru-chan…" He sulked.

I swing my feet as I waited for Dai to finish cooking the gyozas he promised. I took the tissue to occupy myself from boredom. I began to fold the think tissue paper into origami. I turn the plain tissue to something pretty to look at. It was a tissue crane. It was supposed to be a paper crane, but in this case, tissue crane is best to name the origami.

I kept on making the tissue crane and tissue roses. I have nothing better to do. Although, I did talk a lot while making the tissue origami.

Finally, ten minutes later, the gyozas were done and boy do they look good!

"Dig in, Haru-chan!" Dai said as he placed the plate of gyozas in front of dad and me.

There's also a small bowl of rice for me. We break our chopsticks and said 'itadakimasu' in unison.

I took a bite from the gyoza and it was heaven. "It's so good!" I exclaimed as I dig in, taking a huge bite.

Dai laughed, giving dad a smug look. "I'm glad you liked it, Haru-chan." He said.

Dad huffed, clearly defeated.

I happily ate my dinner when the door suddenly opened.

"Dai! Give me six plates of your gyozas!" the voice exclaimed.

Dai nodded and went straight to work. I glanced over to see who has the stomach big enough to eat that much food. My eyes widened when it's the famous Akimichi. It was Akimichi Chouza! And he's with the famous Yamanaka Inoichi and the famous Nara Shikaku! Okay, everyone's famous in Naruto, but wow! These guys are parents and legends! Not Yellow Flash legend, but still!

Inoichi was the first to notice dad. "If it isn't Tadashi. What brings you here?" he asked with a wide smile.

"Miwa's out for tonight." Dad answered.

"Figures… oh? Who's this? No wait…. You must be the famous Haru-chan." Inoichi said, leaning down to face me.

I nodded my head. "Yup! That's me alright!"

"Your tou-san always talks about you nonstop when he's at work." Inoichi said.

I blinked. At work? Wait a minute… Does dad work in the Intel division?! How come I didn't know that?

"Haru-chan, meet tou-chan's friends. Inoichi, Shikaku and Chouza. Guys, meet my precious cute daughter, Haru-chan." Dad introduced, ruffling my hair.

I placed my bowl of rice down and turned on my chair. I cleared my throat and offered both my empty hands at them. I covered my left palm with my right hand and began to move my hands together. And when I open them, three tissue flowers appeared in my hands.

"It's nice to meet you, tou-chan's friends!" I said cheerfully as I held out the tissue flowers. Hey, I ran out of real flowers, okay? Shisui took them all.

The three of them blinked, completely surprised. Inoichi was the first one to snap out of it. "Why, thank you, Haru-chan." He took one.

Shikaku and Chouza took one too.

"Thank you, Haru-chan." Chouza said, taking a seat beside Inoichi.

"I can see what Tadashi was blabbering about now." Shikaku said as he took a seat beside me. "So this is the famous 'flower magic'." He inspected the tissue flower.

I resume eating the delicious gyozas. If I pretend to be the innocent little girl, they might talk something about work and I might know more about dad's job in the Intel Division. I listened carefully. But at the end, I didn't get anything. They really do know how to separate work and normal life apart. Not one word was about work or the on-going war that I wasn't supposed to know about. Oh they're good… too good. But nothing I can fix.

I turned to face dad with a few rice stuck on the corner of my lips. "Hey tou-chan! Where do you do your work?" I asked.

Dad laughed and cleaned my face with a complimentary wet towel. "Your tou-chan works in a very secret place where he becomes a hero by day and a very loving dad by night." He answered.

"A hero? Cool!" I beamed.

Inoichi chuckled. "Your tou-san's job is very tough." he said.

Chouza nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, he always has to look tough because a lot of people depends on him."

Hero by day, tough and people depends on him…

…

I got nothing. It's not specific enough.

All I know is that my dad can never be part of the interrogation unit. He's too handsome for that! He can't look scary. He doesn't have that thing in his eyes that could make his opponent freeze and pee in his pants like Ibiki could. Though… he could be in the Seduction unit…. Nah! Dad would never do that. He has my beautiful mom. Besides, mom would definitely kill him if he flirts with other women than her.

"Why so curious Haru-chan?" Shikaku asked, taking a sip from his sake.

I grinned. "I just wanna know what tou-chan's work is! I know kaa-chan is a baker! But I don't know what tou-chan's work is." I answered childishly. "Do you work like Minato-san?" I asked curiously. I really am curious now.

Dad smiled. "I do."

"Wow! Can you do all that thing? Like zoom and poof?" I asked again.

Dad hummed. "Not all shinobi's skills are the same, Haru-chan. For example, Namikaze's san is teleportation while your tou-chan uses special ninjutsu to help people." He explained.

That kind of shortens it. Uses a special jutsu… definitely not Seduction unit. Could be jutsu research.

"Are you interested in being a shinobi, Haru-chan?" Dad asked, even though he knew that I was too young to answer this. Most kids will follow their parent's footsteps, being a shinobi or even a shop owner.

I smirked and crossed my hands. "You know what I want to be when I grow up, tou-chan." I said, closing my eyes. I threw my arms up in the air and a few colorful streamers came out. "I want to be the best magician the world has ever seen!"

"A magician?" Chouza asked.

I nodded. "A magician is a person who does awesome tricks." I explained.

"You don't want to be a shinobi like your tou-san?" Inoichi questioned, staring at me weirdly. I don't think he has ever heard the word magician too. I don't blame him.

I shook my head. "Tou-chan is a hero, but I want to be a hero in another thing! I want to be a hero in entertainment! Like dancing or singing, but different because I'm a magician!"

Dad patted my head. "You'll be a great magician one day, Haru-chan."

And one day I shall.

But right now. I want to know what dad works as.

I'm a persistent little kid. I can get something out. Probably.

* * *

A/N: End of chapter! I do hope you guys like it! review that you guys think about it!

Oh yeah, for anyone who like KH, read my newest story: New Beginnings, it's an OC story and explains the backstory of all the crossover stories I have with my OC in it. So yeah… haha. Leave a review and tell me what you guys think about it ;)

and thanks to all who have spare their time to read, review, faved and followed this story :D I really appreciate it

R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'M ALIVE! Hahaha!

Anyway, sorry for being away for so long…

Special thanks to everyone who has read, faved, reviewed and followed this story :D

Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto

Halley Vanaria: Thank you!

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Zafrinel: more magic!

* * *

Act 5  
Thoughts

* * *

Amazing.

Was the first thing that popped into Minato's head when he observed Haruka. The girl's ability to interact with other kids is amazing. She could tolerate and keep a calm facade when other kids won't play with her, but she didn't give up trying to find a friend. He watched her interact with an Uchiha and he was impressed.

The tricks she pulled to entertain the boy were eye-catching. He himself was stuck watching her perform the tricks. He knew that her tricks were not jutsus or anything special like a kekke genkai, but they were entertaining. He watched Haruka moved her hands quickly and three marbles appear between her small fingers. Her hands were skilled. Fast and precise. He didn't even notice when the marbles appear. It impressed him that a child, no less than three could move her fingers so quickly. It was almost like magic.

"One, two, three!" Minato heard the two children count. His blue eyes stared in awe when he saw a bird instead of the marbles in Haruka's palm.

"Wow! I didn't know marbles could turn into a bird!" Obito exclaimed. He brought his hand up to his eyes, rubbing them to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The raven-haired boy turned to his teammates. "Did you guys see that? What kind of technique was that? And how come a two-year old can do it? Why didn't anyone teach me that when I was two?!" he complained.

Kakashi clicked his tongue. "You idiot, nobody learned such a thing when they're two." He crossed his arms as his dark eyes stared at his black-haired teammate with an annoyed look. "Besides, it's not even a jutsu. Fancy tricks like that can't save you in a mission." He continued, turning his head to look away.

Obito gave Kakashi a cheeky grin, ignoring his other comment. "Oh, so you admit that Haru-chan's tricks are fancy. I knew it! Even the bastard likes Haru-chan's tricks!" he burst out laughing, clutching his stomach as he bends over.

Kakashi's eye twitched. "Cih! Idiot." He mumbled loud enough for his teammate to hear.

Obito stopped laughing, a visible vein popped on his forehead. "I heard that!" he snapped, raising his fist threateningly at the cool-headed boy.

Rin giggled nervously, "Not in the park guys…" she tried to stop the two boys from bickering in front of the children, but all of her words went to deaf ears as the two boys started to bicker. The brunette gave out a soft sigh as she crossed her arms. Her brown eyes glanced over to Haruka and the Uchiha boy. They sat by the swings and the two began to talk as Haruka did another trick to impress the boy. Her eyes softened as a smile appeared on her lips. "Well, at least Haruka is having a good time right, Minato-sensei?" she turned to face her teacher.

Minato averted his attention from the two children to Rin. "Yes, it's great to see her making friends." He smiled at his student before his gaze went back to look at the auburn-haired girl. The girl was teaching the Uchiha how to pull a flower from thin air. She demonstrated the trick a few times to the boy and Minato couldn't believe how many flowers she had pulled out. He raised his hand up, staring at his empty hand. "Kind of makes you wonder how a two-year old can do it huh, Rin-chan?" he chuckled, waving his hand.

Rin blinked before she laughed, waving her hand too. "Yeah."

The yellow flash turned his head to look back at Haruka.

' _You will grow up to be a fine Kunoichi, Haruka.'_

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Fujino Tadashi sat on his chair with a heavy sigh. He slumped in his seat and closed his eyes for a brief moment. He took a deep breath before pulling out another profile from his desk. His teal-green eyes observed the picture clipped on the papers before his eyes scanned the profile. He placed the papers back down and slipped them inside the cream-colored folder.

"Tough day, huh?"

Tadashi turned around in his seat and gave the man a tired smile. "Yeah... They just keep on coming." he replied.

The blond man shrugged. "At a time like this, I'm not really surprised." he pulled out an empty chair and sat beside the auburn-haired man. "Kind of makes you think that everyone is doing their jobs a little too well, huh?" he joked.

Tadashi laughed. "We were never this busy."

The blond man nodded his head in agreement. "That's what war made us do." he sighed heavily. "I just hope this war will end soon though." he crossed his arms.

The auburn-haired man nodded. "Me too..." He pulled out a picture of his wife and daughter. He traced his thumb over the picture and a smile appeared on his lips. It was taken a few months ago. His eyes stared at his daughter's bright grin and he couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Call him crazy, but staring at his daughter's picture was enough to make him smile and laugh. "I just wish I could spend more time with Miwa and Haru-chan now... She's turning three next year." he said, the smile still on his lips.

The blond man groaned. "I wish I have a daughter to spoil too." he said and his eyes stared at the picture Tadashi was holding. "Haru-chan is so lucky to have a very doting father like you, Tadashi." he continued.

Tadashi grinned. "I'm sure you would be as doting as I am when you have a kid, Inoichi." he said, making Inoichi laugh. His eyes darted back to the picture her was holding. "When this war ends, I want to take Haru-chan to travel across the land just like how she wanted." he smiled.

"I thought her dream was to be a famous... Magician?" both Tadashi and the blond man turn to the new voice that joined in the conversation. Two men stood behind them, a Nara and a Akamichi.

"Whatever that is..." The Nara added.

"Chouza. Shikaku." Tadashi greeted as he turned his seat around.

Shikaku's sharp eyes glanced over to the picture in Tadashi's hand to Inoichi. "Bragging to Inoichi about your daughter again, Tadashi?" he asked as he shoved his hands inside his pants' pockets. "You're going to make him jealous one day if you keep on talking about Haruka." he continued, a smirk on his lip.

Inoichi laughed and placed his hand on Tadashi's shoulder. "Don't worry, Shikaku. I can brag to him too when I have a daughter and then we'll see who will be jealous."

Chouza joined in the laughter. "It kinda makes me want to have a daughter too." he admitted, scratching his cheek sheepishly.

Almost everyday after Tadashi's shift in interrogation was over, the man would sit on his chair, slump, sigh and then pull out a picture of his family. The man would coo, brag and tell his coworkers about how cute and talented his daughter is. Most of the shinobis in the room were used to Tadashi's squealing and fangirling over his own daughter, but some find him quite annoying, even if he was one of the best interrogator in the room. The whole unit respect Tadashi as the head, but when he pulls out that picture, everyone tends to stay away from hearing his over-exaggerating stories.

"Don't you want a daughter too, Shikaku?" Tadashi turned to face the Nara.

Shikaku sighed. "...I think I'll wait." he said, scratching the back of his head. His sharp eyes glanced over to Tadashi's desk. They were mostly filled with various items Haruka 'poof-ed' up for Tadashi. Flowers, small knick-knacks, you name it. It was misleading to be honest. A man who was known and feared for his interrogation ability is really a childish man to his daughter. Then again with a face like Tadashi, everything was misleading from the start. He picked up a paper flower from the vase and stared at it. "Tadashi... You said that your daughter is talented. What's the first word that popped into your head about your daughter?" he asked.

Talented. Smart. Beautiful... and the list goes on.

"Brilliant." Tadashi said with a big smile.

Shikaku hummed. "And you said that she can speak well too?"

Tadashi nodded his head. Haruka's ability to speak so fluently for a two-year old is amazing. He remembered her first word and her second to her third. Sure, it was odd for someone as old as her to be speaking so fluently, but Uchihas can speak fluently when they were two too, right? Besides, his daughter is brighter than any Uchiha, that he was absolutely certain.

Haruka... is a really bright child, though sometimes she can be confusing. She invented the word 'Magician', complete will all of the fancy tricks she performed for him and Miwa by the age of two. Her ability to persuade other people is also amazing. He remembered clearly when Haruka went shopping with Miwa a month ago, she sweet-talked the vendors to letting her have free samples, plus a fifty percent discount for the items they wanted to buy! They saved a lot of money from that.

He was proud of her, really.

But at the same time, he was worried.

Children like Haruka would be forced to attend the Academy at a young age. Expected to graduate early. And then shipped off to fight in the war they don't even know. He and Miwa tried their best to hide Haruka's talents from everyone, even from his best friends. He knew that it was wrong of him and Miwa to keep Haruka's talents from the Hokage and the village, but he wanted to keep Haruka as far away as possible from the war. He didn't want her to lose her million Ryo smile.

"I would like to meet her." Shikaku said, surprising Tadashi.

"Shikaku," Tadashi paused.

"I would like someone smart to talk to, even if that someone is a two-year old kid." Shikaku said, placing the paper flower back into the vase. He shoved his hands inside his pockets and give his three friends a smirk. "Sometimes talking to you three really gets to me." he joked.

"Oi, oi..." Inoichi complained, glaring at the genius.

Chouza simply shook his head with a laugh. "How about you take her out to dinner tonight at Dai's?" he suggested.

Tadashi nodded.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Shikaku thought Tadashi was just exaggerating with his stories about his daughter. He wasn't.

Two and a half year old Haruka was just as what Tadashi described.

Bright. Talented. Smart.

Her hands were quick, he didn't even see how she pulled something out of thin air, be it a tissue flower or colorful handkerchiefs tied together to make a rope. And he was the one who has the sharpest and keenest eyes in the group.

' _She sure attracts some attention alright…'_ The genius said as his eyes darted around. People had gathered around them to see Haruka's magic. Before Haruka started to pull things out of thin air, the restaurant was almost empty, with the exception of them, but now… almost all of the chairs were seated and more people were coming in to the shop because they heard people clap every time Haruka finished. _'Seems like she doesn't mind of the growing crowd. Confident little kid…'_

"For my last trick, I need a ring!" Haruka announced as she pulled out a long small-chained necklace from her balled up fist. People stared in amazement as she pulled the necklace from her empty hand. She sat on the barstool, facing everyone as they all sat behind their tables, a few even stood at the sides. She held the necklace up high, showing it to everyone that it's real and nothing had been done to rigged it up. "I don't have one because kaa-chan won't let me borrow hers." She joked, earning a few laughs from the customers.

A man came up to her and took off his ring. "I'll lend you mine, but you have to give it back to me, okay? My wife will kill me if I lose it." He laughed as he gave the ring to the little girl.

Haruka grinned. "Don't worry! I won't break it! Can you please stand beside me?" she said and the man shrugged before standing beside the barstool she sat on. She held the necklace up above her head for everyone to see and threads the necklace through the ring. "Sometimes, you can lose your ring when doing something! Kaa-chan lost her ring once when we were gardening! It took us hours to find it." She heard her dad snort in laughter.

' _What are you planning, Haruka?'_ Shikaku thought as he took a sip from his drink.

"I don't want to Kaa-chan to lose her ring again, so I made her a ring necklace!" Haruka said as she dropped the ring.

Everyone waited for the ring to clatter to the floor, but it didn't happen as the ring magically tied itself to the necklace.

"No way!" a teen shouted as his jaw dropped.

The auburn-haired girl grinned as she moved the necklace left to right. "You can try too if you want, sir." She turned in her seat, facing the man. She untied the two items before giving them to the man. The man placed the ring just like before and when he dropped the ring, it didn't tie itself to the necklace. "Oh! I got it! Don't worry, sir! The ring didn't break." She said as she caught the right, giving it back to the man.

The man shook his head with a small laugh. "This is impossible." He tried a few more times before giving up.

Haruka laughed before she did the magic trick again. The ring magically tied itself to the necklace. She showed everyone the necklace and they all clapped. It was a simple trick, but it was enough to amuse everyone. She turned back to the man, giving him the necklace. "Here you go, sir! A souvenir!" she smiled.

"Thank you." The man laughed again as he went back to his group of friends.

Shikaku observed. _'Her ability to entertain people is amazing. That's for sure.'_ He noted, his eyes glancing around at the smiles on people's faces. _'If she's already this good at this age, I wonder how good will she be when she's older.'_ He thought.

A talent like this should be looked upon.

The little girl bowed her head, deciding to call an end to the show. "Thank you! Thank you! You're all very kind!" she thanked, turning around in her seat to bow her head in different directions. The ovation only lasted around thirty seconds, but she was happy and content. She spun around in the chair and sighed happily. "Fuh! That was a fun show!" she said, turning her head to face her father.

Tadashi clapped his hands. "That was amazing! You did great!" he praised, ruffling the auburn locks on top of Haruka's head. "My little angel is the best!"

"Quite a show, Haru-chan." Inoichi grinned.

"I like the part when you kept on pulling out the handkerchief from your pocket." Chouza said before he ate the freshly served gyozas.

Shikaku smirked. "Hard to believe that a two— _and_ a half year old can do them." He corrected himself when he saw Haruka flashed him a look when he said her age. _'Not even Kakashi was fast with his hands when he was two.'_ He continued in his head, the contagious smile Haruka was giving him made his lips twitched up in a small smile. _'But let's not compare her to Kakashi.'_

"Are they really not jutsus?" Inoichi asked, smiling at the girl.

Haruka shook her head. "Nope!" she chirped popping the 'p'. "Tou-chan said that I'm not old enough to use Catra!" she said.

The four friends laughed when they heard Haruka said 'Catra', instead of 'Chakra'.

"It's Chakra, Haru-chan, not Catra. We don't have cats in our bodies." Chouza corrected.

 _'I guess a two-year old is still a two-year old.'_ Shikaku chuckled.

"Ohhhh… Chakra! Huh… no wonder everyone at the park laughed at me when I said Catra instead of Chakra!" Haruka grinned sheepishly as she scratched the back of her neck. "Speaking of cats…" she trailed off when something suddenly moved inside of her shirt.

Shikaku's eyes widened when a small kitten suddenly popped it's head out from the hem of Haruka's shirt. The small kitten meowed as Haruka gently lift it up, holding the small pet to her father.

"Haru-chan! Making birds appear is one thing, but a kitten? How more adorable and talented can you get!" Tadashi squealed as he pulled his daughter to a hug.

Haruka laughed at her father's display of affection.

"Ah! Momo-chan!" Dai exclaimed when he saw the small kitten. "My daughters have been looking all afternoon for her! Where did you find her?" he asked as he peered over the counter to look at the kitten with a pink bow around her neck.

Haruka laughed. "I found her right here." She patted her stomach. "I teleported her to appear." She said dramatically, a funny look on her face.

Dai laughed before one of his workers took the kitten away from Haruka. "Well either way, thank you for finding Momo-chan for us, my daughters won't stop crying because they can't find her."

"You're welcome!"

Shikaku stared at the scene with an amazed look.

To everyone it looked normal. Just a little girl pulling up a few tricks up her sleeves and innocently telling a joke about chakras, but to him it was more to that.

Earlier, Haruka mentioned that Tadashi never taught her anything about chakra. He presumed that he just told her that jutsus required chakra. She shouldn't know where chakra comes from yet and here she is, making a joke about it and patting the place where the chakra core is.

She knew what chakra is.

She knew where it is.

She knew about it and pretended to not.

She managed to convince everyone, even him. She could've 'teleported' the kitten to another place, like her jacket or pulled up a big handkerchief to make it appear, but she chooses to make the kitten appear around her stomach area, where 'catra' is.

If Haruka didn't pat her stomach when she was talking to Dai, he would've missed it.

Fujino Haruka is a genius.

* * *

A/N:

I'm sorry if Shikaku's logic didn't make sense haha. I just got back to the fandom because I just bought the new Naruto game, but it's in Japanese so yeah haha at least I can learn Japanese faster with it.

Anyway, what do you guys think of the chapter? And any idea for future pairings? I _might_ pair Haruka with someone, but I can also make her forever single haha. Just wanna know what you guys think of pairings.

See you guys in the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: You guys! Thank you so much for the faves, reviews, reads and follows! You guys turn my frown upside down :D

Anyway, this chapter might be a little short, but I thought it would be good to end it short? Haha

Oh yeah! I've drawn a picture of Haruka in my DA account. It's a sketch with the hair, skin and eyes colored, but at least you guys know how she looks like, right? Hahaha.

Feel free to make your own version of what Haruka is wearing, because I haven't colored her clothes yet Lol.

My DA account is under the name of manga1357, it's the newest drawing. Don't worry, the title will be very obvious Lol.

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Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

Act 6  
Reunion

* * *

"Please come back again!"

I bowed my head to a mother and her son as they exited our bakery. The bell above the door chimed as the door closed.

I've been helping around the shop since a few months ago, it's almost March now. After meeting all of those important people in one day, I never actually seen any of them anymore. Sure, once in a while, dad would take me to Dai's to have dinner with his friends, but that was rare too. I can even count how many times I've seen them with my fingers! For the past four to five months, it's four times only.

I guess during that time, everyone was busy with the war. My parents might not tell me anything about it, but what I heard from around town, it was getting worse during the past four months. Maybe I didn't see anyone because they were being sent out of the village. I hope Minato's team is alright, but I shouldn't be worried since it's not time to be worried yet. I still have like a year and a half. Not that many, but I can probably think of something.

Since last year, mom rarely let me out of her sight. She always took me with her to grandma and grandpa's bakery and since then, I've began to help them around the shop. Also, dad rarely comes home now. I guess he's really busy with work and all, but when he does, he spent all of his time with us rather than relaxing.

And Shisui… I miss the little guy's enthusiasm. It's getting kinda lonely that I haven't seen or heard anything about him. Too bad though… He would've make a really good assistant.

"Nice work, Haru-chan! Another customer satisfied!" I turned around and grinned at my grandpa. He was the one managing the cash register and both mom and grandma are the ones in charge of baking. We have another worker, who helps us clean and bake too, but he took the day off since it was his mother's birthday. "Keep this up and I'll raise your paycheck!" grandpa laughed.

The props that I used can't just grow out of trees.

I need some greens to buy more supplies for my magic tricks, alright?

I can't just ask mom and dad for money all the time—well, I can, since I'm almost three, but well you get the point. I want to keep everything as secret as possible to make it more real. The less people know how I prepare, the better.

I gave him a salute. "Aye, aye, Jii-chan!" I can't help mom and grandma bake yet, since I'm still too short and young, but I can help them take the bread out and sell them to customers.

If well, I don't eat them first that is.

The bell above the door chimed, signaling that a customer just went in.

"Welcome!" Both grandpa and I chorus. I blinked when I saw the woman who entered the shop. A woman with long red _gorgeous_ hair was looking at the breads displayed near the shop's window. She was with someone. Another woman. A woman with long black hair with a gorgeous face. It was Kushina and some other pretty woman! I grinned widely. I haven't seen anyone I knew for months! "Ah! Kushina-san, it's been awhile!" I gave a 90 degree bow to the young woman.

Kushina turned around and her eyes widened when she saw me. "Eh?! Haru-chan!" she exclaimed in surprise, pointing her finger at me.

I smiled.

"You know the little girl, Kushina?" The black-haired woman asked, staring at me with a kind smile. I stared at her face and my eyes widened a little when I finally recognize who the other pretty woman is. It was Mikoto! You know, Uchiha Mikoto. The mom of two boys, Itachi and Sasuke, and wife to the most typical Uchiha-faced Uchiha, Fugaku. "What's your name? I'm Mikoto."

"Nice to meet you, pretty lady!" I pulled a flower from thin air and gave the woman the red rose. "I'm Haruka!"

Mikoto blinked before she giggled behind her hand. "Thank you, Haru-chan." She said as she took the red rose.

I noticed the bump around her stomach and I blinked.

Wait a minute.

I know Sasuke is not going to be born in another decade…

So, could this mean that I was born before Itachi?!

Sweet!

"So, what are you doing here, Haru-chan?" Kushina asked.

I lift my head up to look at her. "I work here! This is my Jii-chan and Baa-chan's bakery!" I chirped happily. I noticed that Kushina was wearing her normal attire and not her ninja gear. She didn't even wear her headband. "Are you on vacation, Kushina-san?" I asked.

Because I know asking her what she was doing inside a bakery was pretty stupid. She was going to buy bread. Duh.

Kushina nodded her head. "Yup! I finally have like a week break after months and months of missions!" she sighed, slumping her shoulders.

So, I was right.

I smiled at them. "So, what kind of bread are you going to buy? I know everything about bread!" I childishly said, moving my arms.

Kushina grinned as she crouched down to my eye level. She motioned her hand for me to come closer and as soon as I was close enough, she bought her hand up to cover my ear and her mouth. "You see, Haru-chan, because she's going to have a baby pretty soon, Mikoto's been a little cranky and she needs her sweets. One of her favorite is anpan and I heard that this place is one of the best to get them!" she whispered as she glanced over to look at Mikoto.

Oh, I remembered when my previous mom was pregnant four times. Dad and I have to go back and forth from the store to buy the specific things she wanted. Once of her favorite thing is Nutella. Oh, how I also love and miss Nutella now…

I giggled behind my hand and took a step back. "Well, you've come to the right place! This is the best bakery in Konoha!" I exclaimed and I could hear my grandpa's snort in the background.

I quickly went to the counter where my grandpa is and then he gave me a small tray of samples. To increase the sales, I suggested that we have free samples for our customer to taste. Other shops would be too scared to give out free samples because they think that it will be a waste of money. Turns out, it was a huge success! You could say that our shop is the first shop to give out free samples!

We want to prove that our bread just doesn't look pretty, it taste good too!

Oh now, I'm bragging. Ups!

But if they know how good it tasted then they will have to buy it, right? If you just think that it looks good from looking at it, then you won't know if it's good or not. You know what they all say, don't judge a book by its cover.

I went back to Kushina and Mikoto, holding out the small tray. "I personally recommend the anpan because it's the number one bestseller!" the tray was full of mini versions of the breads we sell here at the bakery. It was bite-sized, so it was easy to give samples. I pointed to the small round bread that I recommended and picked them up using a tissue paper to give them to both women. "What do you think?" I smiled as I wait for them to try.

Kushina's eyes seemed to twinkle when she ate the anpan. "Wow! It's so good!"

"Yes." Mikoto agreed.

"Would you like to try the melon pan and the chocolate cornet? They're really good too!" I grinned and handed them both each.

"This bakery is a godsend!" Kushina exclaimed. "Haru-chan! Give me a dozen each!"

36 breads? New record sold in one day to one customer!

Mikoto placed a hand on Kushina's shoulder. "Kushina, that's a bit too much." She laughed nervously before looking down at me with a smile. "We'll take two each, Haru-chan."

I saluted. "You got it, Mikoto-san!"

"Make that three boxes, Haru-chan! I don't want Minato to eat all of it!"

"Aye, Aye, Kushina-san!"

Both Kushina and Mikoto waited at the counter while I pick the breads up from the table and gave them to grandpa for packaging. "And since you bought three boxes, we'll give you a discount! Right, Jii-chan?" I turn my head to my grandpa who nodded his head.

"Thank you, Haru-chan." Mikoto kindly said as Kushina grinned.

"This bakery is a blessing for Konoha." The red-head said.

After Kushina and Mikoto payed, I took the three boxes of breads and guided the two gorgeous women out of our shop. I opened the door for them and let them out first before going out myself. I handed them the boxes and bowed my head in thanks.

"Thank you! I hope you come again soon, Kushina-san, Mikoto-san!" I thanked and lifted my head up, showing them my toothy grin.

Kushina melted and pulled me in for a hug. "Awww! You're just too cute Haru-chan! Of course we'll come back! Besides, I bet Mikoto loves your family's anpan!" she rubbed her cheek against mine before standing up. She patted my head and winked. "So, keep those buns coming, hmm?" she giggled.

"I'll make sure we have plenty for you Kushina-san!" I laughed and turned my head to Mikoto.

"Is there something wrong, Haru-chan?" Mikoto tilted her head.

I shook my head. "If I may, Mikoto-san, can I perform a small trick for you?" I asked as I pulled out a deck of cards from my pocket. Mikoto glanced over to Kushina and she only flashed the woman a grin. The black-haired woman nodded her head and I continued. "So, Mikoto-san, you're going to be a mommy, right?" I shuffled the cards.

Mikoto giggled and placed her hand over her stomach. "Yes, that's right."

"With these cards, I'm going to predict the gender and time your baby is born." I shuffled the cards again, this time with a fancy trick. I spring the cards from one hand to the other. Both Kushina and Mikoto gave me looks of disbelief. "I'm going to shuffle them again and I want Mikoto-san to tell me to stop when you want me to stop." I instructed as I began to shuffled the cards.

Mikoto blinked, "Stop." She said and I stopped.

The cards were closed and I moved my hand closer so Mikoto could take the card on top. "Please tell me what number and color the card is." I said.

Kushina peered over Mikoto shoulder. "It's black and six of spades." The pregnant woman answered.

"Six of spades, right? Okay, I'm going to shuffle the cards six times." I shuffled the cards six times and stopped. I took the card on top of the deck and showed it to them. "It's the nine of diamonds, right?" I asked.

"Yes."

I grinned. "Mikoto-san, your baby is a boy and he will be born at the 9th of June! Congratulations!" I move my hands to cover the cards and threw them in the air, turning the cards to a variant of colorful confetti.

Kushina laughed. "Are you sure? The baby could be a girl!" she said as she patted my head.

I joined in the laugh. "We'll just have to wait till the 9th of June then! Please tell me if I'm right or wrong, Mikoto-san." I bowed at the Uchiha Matriarch.

Mikoto nodded. "It will be amazing if your predictions are true, Haru-chan."

"Yeah! Maybe if it came true, you can predict mine!" Kushina offered.

I grinned.

"Well, we have to go now, kiddo! See you around!"

I waved my hand goodbye to the two before going back inside the shop.

Grandpa was resting his chin on his palm as he stared at me, a grin on his face.

"Haru-chan, did you just convinced the Red Hot-Blooded Habenero and the Uchiha Matriarch to be our regular?"

I gave a piece sign.

"Atta girl."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It's been a few hours since Kushina and Mikoto visited our bakery.

I'm so hungry now!

Maybe a little—

"Haru-chan, I know what you're thinking. That's for our customers." I heard grandma chided from behind the wide table. I turned my head to her, giving a sheepish grin. She was pounding on the bread dough before she took a handful of it and place it on the tray, passing it on to mom for the filling. She motioned her hand for me to come closer and I did. I saw her pat her hands on her apron to get as much as the white flower off. She turned around and got me something from a different table. "I knew you would try to sneak one out, so I made extras for you." She gave me a clear bag filled with anpan!

My eyes sparkled at the sight.

"Why don't you go to the park and share it with some friends?" Grandma smiled.

I blinked. Was it safe now to let kids wonder around?

I turned to mom who gave me a smile and nod. "Just don't wonder too far from the park, okay?" she said.

I nodded my head, "Okay!"

I wonder if I can find Shisui.

The park where we met wasn't that far from the bakery. It was located right beside the sweets shop two blocks down. If I remember correctly, we can see the Hokage Tower from there too. Pretty convenient, huh?

When I reached the park, there were less children than I remembered. I scanned the whole playground, trying to find the mob of black hair among the sea of hairs. My eyes stopped at one kid who sat underneath the big tree at the side of the playground. No kids were there since there were nothing for them to play with. He sat there with his legs folded, his nose stuck in a scroll.

I approached the boy. "Hello." I pulled a flower from the air right in front of his nose. "We meet again, huh?" I grinned.

"Ah! Haruka!" Shisui threw away the scroll he was reading and stared at me with big eyes. "I haven't seen you in months!"

"I miss you too, Shisui!"

Shisui scooted to the right, giving me some space to sit beside him. "So, what have you been doing?" he asked, turning his head to face me.

"Been helping around the shop. Look! I brought bread!" I jiggled the bag of anpan in front of his eyes and opened the bag, placing it between us. I took one out and he did as well. "What have you been doing anyway?"

"At the compound, training, reading, training. It's so boring! They won't let us out for _months_!" Shisui took a bite from the anpan and his eyes brighten at the taste before he went back to sulking.

Huh. So, clan kids had it worse than regular kids. At least, I was still allowed to go out of the house. I guess the village or the clan were scared that their secret jutsus or eyes or something important would be taken if they let any of the clansmen or kids out. I feel so _loved_ now.

"But I'm glad they're finally letting us out now! I don't think I can stand being stuck inside monotone-less people for months! I need to talk to someone like you!" Shisui grinned.

Oh shucks! I'm blushing because of your kind words!

"Aww! I need my friend too!" We both hugged.

Why does this feels more like a comedic reunion rather than a touching one?

"Let's make this moment last!" I pulled out a handkerchief and blew my nose with it. Shisui gave me a disgusted look before I waved my handkerchief as fast as I can. From the handkerchief, a ball popped out and landed in Shisui's hands. "Let's play ball!" I stuffed the handkerchief back inside my pocket.

"Did you just make a booger ball?! Ew, but cool! Gross, but awesome!" Shisui held the ball, tossing it up and down.

"I'll pretend I never hear it."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: weee! I'm back! Sorry I haven't update this story in a while… I planned to update last week, but I had a really crappy week…. But thank you guys so much for the reviews, favs, and alerts! You guys made me so happy!

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The rest of the reviews will be replied bellow the story~

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

Act 7  
Captive

* * *

 _Kick_

"So, anything new?" I asked, waiting for Shisui to kick the ball back to me. He kept on juggling the ball on his forehead and let it fall, only for him to kick it back to his head. The little guy was a natural and he knew it. Playing soccer with only two people is boring, so we decided to just take turns juggling the ball on our forehead while talking. "Other than the clan letting you out." I added.

Shisui hummed in respond as he balanced the ball on his head. "Not much… But I heard that the war is going to end soon." He said and he passed the ball back to me.

I used my chest to stop the ball and let it fall to the ground. "Really? How do you know that?" I asked as I placed my foot on the ball. "Tou-chan and Kaa-chan never said anything about the war when I'm around." I pulled back the ball and pop it up, using my foot to scoop the ball up and juggle it.

Not ten seconds in and I'm already interested in this conversation. Mom, dad and even grandma and grandpa never mentioned anything about the war when I'm around. But I had my resources. If my family won't tell me what's going on beyond the gates of Konoha, then other people can. Call me nosy, but I eavesdrop, like, a lot.

Maybe they don't want to talk about it. Maybe they don't want me listening to the cruel reality of life. Maybe they just think I'm too young to understand.

Reality check, I experienced death once and I'm mentally an adult.

But they don't need to know that.

"Well, I heard the elders in my clan talk about how Konoha is winning this war." Shisui tilted his head as he examined how I juggle the ball with my foot. I swear this kid is a copy-cat even without his sharingan. "And Mikoto-sama's husband, Fugaku-sama returned last night. He's like, the strongest in the clan. So if he came back, that means everything is okay." He pointed out as I passed the ball back to him.

He gave a few points that were really reasonable. I mean, I never seen Fugaku fight in the anime, but he is the clan head and therefore he has to be good. if the strongest returned, that means the war has to be ending soon.

Except it's all wrong.

As far as I know the war isn't going to end until Kannabi Bridge, which is in a year or two? Meh. I lost count. And after that, it's not until the destruction of the bridge that the war began turning in Konoha's favor. Probably gonna ke a few more months until it ended? Perhaps? I don't know… I don't even know if Obito and Rin already made it to chunnin or not since I haven't seen them again.

I hope they haven't… Kids grew up so fast these days.

"Haruka! Earth to Haruka! Yohooo!" I blinked when Shisui waved his hand in front of my eyes. I turned to face him and tilted my head as Shisui tucked the ball under his arm. "You spaced out! What were you thinking anyway?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing~!" I said in a sing-song voice.

"Aww c'mon! Tell me!" The boy whined. His cheeks puffed out and his lower lip puckered out in a pout. D'awwwww so cute! Well maybe not every kid grows up fast. "Is it something super-secret?" he leaned his head closer.

I grinned, shaking my head. "Maybe~" I drew out and sniggered when I saw the look on Shisui's pouting face. I poked his cheeks a few times. "Aw c'mon! It's not that super-secret!"

"Then why don't you tell me? I _am_ your best friend, right?" Shisui huffed, stomping his tiny feet on the ground like a child. Well, he is a child. So, I can't really say that he's a childish little boy, but he is a persistent one.

I hummed as I tapped my chin. "I dunno… It might be a little too much for you. You might be surprised." I closed my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. Shisui kept on whining and telling me to tell him my secret. After a minute, I finally gave in. "Okay! Okay! You win!" I laughed and held my hands up in surrender.

"Really?" Shisui's eyes gleamed in excitement.

I nodded my head and he cheered out in happiness.

"Okay, now hold out the ball and whatever you do, don't let go, kay?" Shisui nodded. I reached inside my jacket and pulled out a small sewing kit. Hey, you don't know when you suddenly ripped your pants or have a cute patch that you want to sew on your jacket. I have a few you see and I don't plan on stopping to look for cute patches! I pulled a needle pin out and held it between my fingers. "On the count of three." I said as I covered one ear with my hand.

Shisui seemed to know what I'm about to do as he leaned his head away as far as he can from the ball.

"One

Two

Three!"

I pierced the rubber ball with the needle and it exploded with a loud 'pop'. Boy, did I surprise almost all of kids and parents in the park! Haha! But the expression on their faces were definitely worth it~! When they heard the pop, they all turn their head to us and they all couldn't help but let out 'ooohhh' and 'aahhhh' in amazement.

Shisui opened his eyes and they were wide with amazement when he saw the sight in front of him. The ball in his hands were replaced with three strings of small balloons floating above his head. In his other hand were a few pieces of candy. But the thing that surprised him the most were the bubbles floating around and the confetti raining down on him.

I gave a peace sign when his eyes looked over to me. I put the needle back inside the sewing kit because not one likes getting their fingers pricked! Not a few seconds later, kids began to circle us, trying to catch or pop the bubbles.

"You can fit all of these in a single ball?!" Shisui gawked as he held the balloon's strings tightly. "How come the balloon didn't pop when we play with it?!" he asked in confusion.

I pressed my finger to my lips and gave him a wink. "It's magic." I grinned, moving my hands the jazz-hands' style, and just to make it magical, I threw glitter into the air. "But now we don't have any ball to play with." I puckered my lips, letting out a 'boo'.

"Can you turn the balloons back to a ball?" Shisui asked, glancing up to look at the three colored balloons.

"I thought you never asked!" I pulled out a handkerchief, big enough to cover the three small sized balloons. Shisui held the balloons down and I covered them with the handkerchief. I pulled all four ends of the handkerchief and tied them together. "Okay! Now we just have to shake it until the balloons all blended!" the two of us began to shake the wrapped-up balloons and a few seconds later, it began to shape into a ball and grew heavy.

"No way!" Shisui shouted as he opened the knot to revile a ball. "So cool!"

"Thanks!"

Haha, I am cool.

"I've decided…" I heard Shisui began in the midst of children laughing. I turned my head to face him and he had this… determined look on his chubby face. He looks so adorable—

"I don't want to be a shinobi. I want to be a magician like you!"

—and wait, what?

I almost tripped over, but quickly regained my balance. I gave him a smile. "Come again?"

Shisui took a deep breath. "I want to be a magician, just like you!" he repeated, his voice with equal enthusiasm as before.

Uh-oh

If Shisui became a magician and not a shinobi then that means he might not get the sharingan or earn the title of Shunshin no Shisui _or_ be friends with Itachi.

…

Meh… what's done is done I guess…

I can think of something to make him friends with Itachi.

I mean… this is a small, small world haha

"As expected from you, Haru-chan!" I heard a feminine voice gushed out. I turned my head and blinked when I saw who it was. It was Rin! The sweetheart, Rin Nohara! For a moment there, I completely forgot that I just heard Shisui didn't want to become a shinobi. She stood there with her fingers pressed against each other, a smile on her face. She walked closer with her teammates right behind her. She leaned down, her hands on her knees as she smiled at the both of us. "That was an amazing show!" she complimented.

I puffed out my chest in pride. "Thank you!" I pulled out a daisy from thin air and gave it to her. "The show's nothing without my lovely audience!" I grinned as Rin giggled, taking the flower from my hand.

"Hey… don't I get a flower too?" Obito asked as he stood beside Rin.

"If he gets one, can I have one too?" Shisui turned his head to me.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and looked away.

I wiggled my finger and clicked my tongue, 'tsk'ing. "Tsk, tsk! Sorry guys! But these flowers are reserved!"

Shisui whined as Obito laughed.

"So, where have you guys been? It's been, like, months since I last saw you!" I turned to face Rin, holding the number of months I haven't seen them with my tiny fingers.

Rin gave an apologetic look. "Sorry, Haru-chan… We've been really busy with missions. We're back now, so we promise to babysit you again." She turned to her two teammates and Obito grinned as Kakashi grunted, making Obito nudge him on his arm. The grumpy teen rubbed his elbow and gave Obito an annoyed look. "We have some free time before we train, what do you guys say? Do you want to play?" she gave a closed-eyed smile.

"Count me in!" Obito raised his hand up.

"Count me out." Kakashi waved his hand as he walked away from us to stand beneath the tree and keep cool in the shades. Jeez! What a vampire!

Both Shisui and I exchanged looks, and grins appeared.

"Boys VS Girls!"

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Tadashi gave out a loud sigh as he sat on the chair behind his desk. It had been a long morning and noon for him. He didn't even have lunch since work keep on pilling up. He turned his head to his friend and he let out a small snigger. Chouza sat beside him, his head laid on the desk. He could particularly hear the loud grumbling of his friend's stomach.

"How about we go out and grab a quick late lunch?" Tadashi offered and Chouza immediately straightened his back, turning his head sharply to the auburn-haired man.

"When do we leave?" Chouza asked, his stomach growling louder.

Tadashi let out a laugh. "As soon as I filled this paper, it won't be long. Give me five minutes." He reassured and Chouza nodded, sitting back down on to the chair to wait.

The auburn-haired man grabbed the papers to file them away in the cream-colored folder. His teal-green eyes skimmed over the words on the paper and he put them in the correct order. He tapped the papers to the table a couple of time to set them in place. His eyes drift over to the slightly opened drawer on his left. Curious, he put the papers inside the folder and placed it on his table. He pulled the drawer out and his eyebrows furrowed together when he felt something was amiss.

He rubbed his fingers against the handle. It felt sticky and a little dry.

"Hey Chouza… Did you pull my drawer without washing your hands again?" Tadashi asked as he turned his head to look at his friend.

"I did wash my hands… and besides, I was with you the whole time today, why ask?" Chouza reminded, raising an eyebrow.

Tadashi swallowed as he raised his hand to inspect the stain on his fingers. His eyes widened when he saw the drying red liquid. He quickly pulled out the drawer and his eyes scanned over the items inside. His teal-green eyes darted around to try and find something out of place.

Everything was out of place when he first pulled the drawer open.

Fingerprints made from dried blood were smeared everywhere.

There wasn't a single place not touched by the bloody fingerprints.

His heart thumped faster in his chest when he noticed the only thing missing was his picture of Miwa and Haruka.

"Tadashi? Is something wrong?" Chouza asked as he tried to look at what Tadashi was staring at.

All of the sudden, the door was slammed open, making the two men turn their head to face their other friend, Inoichi.

"We have a code 32! Prisoner number 46 has escaped!" Inoichi yelled.

Chouza stood up from his chair. "What?!" the Akimichi turned his head to Tadashi who seemed to be frozen. "What's the matter Tadashi?! We have to catch him before he leaves the village!" he shouted, placing a hand on the man's shoulder to shake him off from his thoughts.

Tadashi just sat there, his eyes wide and sweat rolling down his face.

The bloody drawer.

His picture of Miwa and Haruka.

Prisoner 46.

His heart almost stopped.

"No…"

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Pass it to me! Pass it to me!"

"No way! You passed it on to Rin-san the last time I passed it to you!"

"Pass it to me then!"

"I'm not an idiot Haruka! You're not in my team!"

Well, it was worth a try.

We had been playing soccer and let just say everything was memorable. It was Rin and I against Obito and Shisui. Even though Kakashi's not playing, we made him keep score, so he at least has something to do other than brooding like a vampire all day.

Not five minutes into the game and we girls are already winning! That's right, you heard me right! Us girls are beating the boys at soccer! Rin is the best teammate I could as for. She and I didn't bicker like Shisui and Obito. We're like the dream team.

Right now, it's 2 for boys and 4 for girls.

We got a point because Obito suddenly went goo-goo-ga-ga over Rin for a few seconds and passed the ball to her instead of Shisui.

We stopped playing when he saw a few jounin and chuunin running around and jumping through rooftops.

Kakashi came out from the shades to approach us, his eyes staring at the shinobis.

"What's going on?" Obito asked out loud.

The silver-haired boy shrugged, deciding to approach the shinobi running towards the park. A few more shinobis came inside the park and started to usher everyone out. A few people began to panic and tried to ask the shinobis what was going on, but none of them answered. They just told everyone to go back home.

Both Rin and Obito glanced at each other, nodding. Obito left to join Kakashi and Rin turned to us.

Shisui and I also exchanged confused looks. I bet there's another attack going on. I hope mom's okay… and grandma and gramps…

"Haru-chan, Shisui-kun—!" Rin's eyes widened when she looked at something behind our backs.

It all happened so quickly.

I remember something covering my nose and something sweet.

Not to mention the voices calling out my name.

"Haruka!"

And then it was black.

* * *

Continuation of the other author's note above:

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 **Thank you guys so much for the wonderful reviews!**

 **A question though,**

 **What do you guys think will happen in the next chapter? :0**

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 **I hope you guys like this chapter too, see you guys in the next chapter~**


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I apologize sincerely for the lack of updates… it's been… almost seven months… I'll be honest, at first, I lost interest in the series, but after reading the manga again and after reading your comments… I just know I have to continue! 😃

Thanks for the reviews, reads, follows and favorites! I'm sorry I can't reply to the reviews…

And I'm sorry if this chapter came out a little rushed… still trying to get out of the writer's block… ^_^"

Thank you guys for the never ending support! I love all of you!

And I made a new cover this fic! If you're interested to see, please visit either my Tumblr or my DA!

* * *

Act 8  
shatter

* * *

"Haruka's been gone for quite a while now…"

Miwa placed a tray of freshly baked bread on the counter as she exited the kitchen. It had been a few hours since Haruka left the bakery and she was beginning to get worried. She knew that her daughter is not like any other children. She's smart and knew her way around to get to the park, but a mother couldn't help but worry about her three-year-old daughter.

"Let the girl have some fun, Miwa." Her father said from behind the counter, his eyes never leaving the book he was reading. It had been a rather slow day. After the Red Hot-Blooded Habenero and the Uchiha Matriarch came to their shop, not much happened. A few customers come in and out, but that's it. "It's been awhile since she can go around and play with children her age." He said as he took off his reading glasses while closing the book shut.

A soft sigh escaped Miwa's lips. "I know, but still…" she trailed off, staring at the direction of the window at the front of the shop.

"Haru-chan's a smart girl, she can find her way to the park and back without even asking." Her mother came out from the kitchen with a glass of green tea. She placed the glass on the counter, beside her husband's book before turning to look at her daughter. "She's been pretty secluded during the past few months because of the war, she deserves a few hours of fresh air." She smiled.

"It'll be over soon. Haruka won't have to face any of those horrible things." Her grandfather smiled before taking a sip from his tea.

Miwa looked down, agreeing to her parents' words.

They were right.

Haruka hasn't been spending time with her friend for months because of the condition of the war. It was unsafe, even inside the village. The only way to keep the future generations safe were to keep them inside and shield them away. A week passed since the official announcement of the condition of the war. Everything seemed stabilize.

Though it was more like a standstill ever since Kumogakure lost to Konohagakure.

Which had been two weeks ago.

It wasn't exactly what everyone wanted to hear.

But nevertheless, everyone was relieved to hear the news.

"Hmm? There seemed to be something going on outside." Her grandfather said, glancing out the window of their bakery to see a few shinobi running past. He placed the glass down on the counter and adjusted the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. "Quite a fuss, I must say…" he added when he saw yet another group of three shinobis running past.

Miwa swallowed the lump in her throat. "Could it be…?" she trailed off, panic rousing up in her mind. There was a nagging feeling inside her heart that says Haruka was in danger.

A mother's intuitions.

Before both her parents could respond, she was already off. "Kaa-san, Tou-san, I'll be right back!" she quickly ran towards the door, the bell above the door ringing as she opened the door.

Her parents could only stare at the door.

"…stay safe, Miwa."

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The Uchiha pulled the Hatake closer to him by the collar of his shirt.

"What did you just say, bastard?!"

Obito was beyond pissed.

Kakashi couldn't care less. "Exactly what I said, moron."

It wasn't a minute after that missing-nin kidnapped both Haruka and Shisui. Rather than following after the kidnapper, the two teammates were fighting each other. They both recognize who the kidnapper is. He was one of the criminals they caught a few months ago during their shift to guard the border. It all happened so quickly that they didn't have time to fight back to get Haruka and Shisui.

One second the kidnapper was there and the next, he was gone along with the two children.

"What do you mean about that?!" Obito kept on shaking the shorter by back and forth, threatening to punch him on his face if he didn't give the right answer. "You're telling me to just let him go after what he did?!" he continued.

"O—Obito!" Rin tried to stop the fight between her teammates.

Kakashi clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"That bastard kidnapped Haruka _and_ Shisui!" the Uchiha added, his eyes flashing with anger. "We could've stopped him, if you didn't stop me!" Obito shouted again.

"If we go after him without a plan, we'll be endangering the both of them." Kakashi spat back, his eyes glaring at his teammate. "Didn't you see the kunai against Shisui's throat? The guy held Shisui as hostage. We can't afford to lose a clan member. This will be considered as an A-rank rescue mission because of an Uchiha." He continued.

"What about Haruka?! Are you saying that an Uchiha is more important than her?!"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Who has a kekke genkai, Obito? Which one do you think Konoha will save first?"

Obito pushed Kakashi away. "Bullshit!" his hands were balled up into tight fists as they fall to his sides. His shoulders shook in anger as he lowered his head to look at the ground. He didn't want to believe that Konoha will put his clan first instead of a civilian. "I'm going after that bastard." He stated before he jumped up to the trees.

"Obito—wait!" Rin tried calling out to her teammate.

Kakashi let out a sigh. "It's no use, Rin. Nothing can get passed through that thick skull of his." He said walking passed by the girl. He stood a few steps ahead of her. He crossed his arms, staring at the direction where the boy took off. "Rin, report to Minato-sensei." He ordered.

Rin nodded her head. "What are you going to do?" she asked, staring at him.

"I'm going after that idiot."

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Minato jumped from roof to roof, his eyes scanning through the crowd bellow him.

It started off with a simple D-rank mission for his team. It ended sooner than expected and he dismissed his team for the day, thinking that they deserved a break from the endless D to B rank missions they've been receiving for the past months. He was reporting back to the Mission Assignment Desk when he was given an urgent task from the T&I's Shikaku.

The blond stopped on a roof, kneeling down to one knee.

"Anything yet, Minato?" Shikaku asked, appearing beside the man.

"No," Minato answered briefly, his eyes darting around the faces of the crowd. He was surprised to know a few prisoners has escaped from the T&I. It was hard to believe that something could slip past the most terrifying division.

Shikaku looked down, his eyes also scanning the crowd of people. "Watabe Kato. Chojiro Gou. Higashi Aeko." He listed off, not turning his head to look at the blond beside him. The man was pretty disappointed that the criminals had slipped from them. It was an embarrassment, really.

Not only one, but three has escaped.

After the announcement of Prisoner 46's escape, he had come running to the holding facility to do a quick check and found out two more empty cells rather than one.

"Watabe Kato…." Minato trailed off, remembering the man's name.

How could he forget the man's name? He and his team were the ones in charge of his capture.

They were a group of missing-nins from Kirigakure. The man and his little group were caught trespassing Konoha's borders to spy and then sell out information to Kumogakure. Normally, they will be killed on the spot or handed back to their village, but in times of war, any information is valuable. It wasn't an easy job, but Team Minato managed to take the three alive and brought them back to the T&I for questioning.

"Apparently, the man went mad after going through a few sessions with Inoichi and Tadashi." Shikaku informed, making the blond look at him with a frown on his lips.

"So… Kato might be out to get either Inoichi or Tadashi…" Minato placed a hand on his chip, his eyes looking down with a serious look.

Shikaku gave a loud sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Not exactly. He's after their family—Tadashi's especially." The man's dark eyes narrowed as Minato's eyes widened at the information.

"Coward." Minato said under his breath, his tongue clicking. It was cowardly for anyone to go after family who has no relation to what that person was doing. Tadashi's wife and daughter didn't torture the man. If he wanted to settle things down, then he should've confronted Tadashi himself, not his family.

Shikaku nodded his head in agreement. "Tadashi and Inoichi are on their way to their family. We sent out a couple more to make sure." He said as he tucked his hands inside his pockets. "Kato and his group are not to be taken lightly, especially in their condition now." He added, averting his eyes to meet Minato's cerulean eyes.

"Affirmative." Minato replied and he glanced back to look at the crowd. He blinked a few times when he noticed a woman standing out from the crowd of people. Black hair, brown eyes, pale skin— "Fujino-san?" he murmured.

"What?" Shikaku turned his head to the direction where Minato was staring at.

Minato's eyes narrowed when he saw something glistening in the sunlight.

He quickly pulled out his Hiraishin Kunai and threw it at the direction of Miwa.

"Minato—!"

In a speed of lightning, the blond was gone.

Miwa kept on running. She was worried to no end about her daughter. The park her daughter likes to play in wasn't that far from the bakery, but the run there felt longer this time.

She stopped herself as something appeared in front of her in a flash.

"N—Namikaze-san?!" The woman shouted in surprise when she recognized the man.

Minato appeared just in time to deflect a kunai headed directly to Miwa. The kunai bounced off of his Hiraishin kunai and embed itself to the ground. His sharp eyes narrowed to the direction where the kunai came from. There was a rustle from the trees and it was gone. He glanced over to Shikaku and the black-haired man gave a single nod before he shunshin-ed away.

"N—Namikaze-san? What's going on here?" he heard Miwa asked, her voice slightly wavering at the sight of him in battle mode.

Minato pulled out the kunai from the ground and turned to face the woman. He noticed that the looks everyone was giving him and he gave a reassuring smile. "We apologize for startling all of you. We are going through a drill. There's nothing to be worried about." He waved his hand.

Everyone seemed to breathe out a sigh of relieve before resuming what they were doing before.

"Namikaze-san," Miwa's voice brought him back. He turned his attention to the woman and noticed the look in her eyes.

The blond man directed his hand to the side, politely leading the woman away from the crowd to a more secluded street to talk to her privately.

Minato stared at the woman with a serious look across his face. "Fujino-san, please come with me." He simply said.

"Not without Haruka." Miwa quickly denied, refusing to follow the blond man's command. It was foolish of her to deny a shinobi's words, but her daughter comes first.

"Fujino-san—"

"Miwa!" a voice shouted, followed by the sound of someone landing on the ground with a loud 'thud'. The two of them turned to the source and they were met with an auburn-haired man with a pair of worried looking teal-green eyes. A look of relieve washed over the man's face when his eyes landed on his wife, all safe and sound. "Are you hurt? Did someone hurt you? Thank Kami that you're alright!" he pulled his wife into a tight embrace.

Minato couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you so much, Minato…" Tadashi turned to face the blond, a smile on his tired face. Over the past months, the two became good friends. Given the position they both had, they worked closely and often see each other. "Have you found anyone?" he asked, his face turning serious all of a sudden.

The blond's smile dropped. "Shikaku's in pursuit." He held out the kunai he picked up from the ground, handing it to the man's hand.

A sigh escaped Tadashi's lips. "I see…" he took the kunai from Minato's hand, gripping on the handle tightly.

"Tadashi, what's going on here?" Miwa questioned, staring at her husband with a frown. "Is there something I'm missing?"

Both Minato and Tadashi exchanged glances.

"Minato-sensei! Minato-sensei!"

Minato blinked when he heard his student calling out for him. "Rin?" he saw his student running towards him. He studied her facial expression. She was in a hurry. A worried look was seen across her face. He didn't want to assume things so quickly, but he could tell that something bad had happen. The girl stopped in front of them, completely out of breath. "Calm down. Is there something wrong?" he asked.

Rin panted before glancing over to look at the Fujino, a hesitant look on her face. "F—Fujino-san… I'm sorry… we—"

Tadashi sucked in a harsh breath.

"We weren't able to protect Haruka…"

He could feel his heart drop.

"They were kidnapped."

It felt like the end.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"—ruka! Haruka! Wake up!"

My head hurts… like… a lot.

"Haruka!"

Shisui? Is that you? Are we in Heaven?"

"Haru—!"

"Shut up, brat! You're giving me a headache!"

Who was—wait—oh, we're still alive then.

After a few more seconds, everything seemed to clear up. My eyes weren't blurry anymore. It was a little dark from the lack of sunlight, but I could still see where we are. We were in a forest, I guess?

"You're okay!" I heard Shisui cried out to my left before he began to choke me with his bear hug.

"Yeah—," I remember now. I was kidnapped by someone. That was a first actually. In my previous life, I have never been kidnapped. Ever. I did a short performance for a magic show back in Vegas about a classic retro kidnapping movie. I was the magician hero of course. That was a fun show.

The man let out a sigh. "Thank Kami! I don't think I'll manage another minute of this brat's yelling!" he said, his arms crossed. "If that other brat wakes up a minute too late, this kunai's going to be found on his head." He pulled out a sharp kunai and spun it around by the hole.

Shisui gave a deep frown as he glared at him.

"Gou, quit it." A female spoke up. I turned around to see a woman with long hair. It was hard to guess her hair color because of the low lighting, but I bet her hair's a dark purple color. She was in a bad shape, a few scars here and there, but she was still a pretty woman. The man—though—was a different case. He had a scar along his jawline and one along his arm. They both were wearing the same some sort of dirty white uniform. A prisoner's uniform, perhaps? "That one's an Uchiha. A really valuable one." She said in a calm tone.

Gou—the grumpy man—clicked his tongue. "Cih! It would've been fun if you just let me get back at those Konoha bastards by killing one of those kids." His eyes fell on us—I guess there were more of us.

I glanced around and counted.

Four.

There were four others.

Including me.

A girl with white eyes. Another girl with white eyes—Hyuugas.

Shisui.

And then there's lil' ol' me—magician extraordinaire.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Don't you know how valuable their eyes are? They're worth a fortune in the market." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. "And the red-head's one of the last Uzumakis to ever walked the five nations. She's worth a fortune too." she continued.

Red-head? Was she referring to me?

Excuse you, my hair's auburn.

And the name's Fujino Haruka! Magician Extraordinaire!

No one can beat Kushina's fabulous red hair!

"Haruka…" I heard Shisui whispered from my left. I turned to look at him. We weren't restrained with ropes or shackles, but I doubt we would be able to outrun these two hooligans. "What are we going to do?" he asked.

Poor guy… he looked really scared.

"Are we going to die?" the first Hyuuga began, trying to hold back the sobs. She looked around four to five I guess?

The second Hyuuga didn't even dare to lift her chin up.

Man… poor kids… they're probably traumatized because of this.

"Where the hell is Kato, anyway? At this rate, we're going to get caught again!" Gou shouted impatiently, throwing the kunai to the ground with force. The three kids around me flinched. I'm kinda used to it since the blindfolded knife throwing act. It was scary, but I gotta learn to trust my partner not to throw the knife at my face or any parts of my body!

"You called?"

It was a chilling voice.

You know… the voice that can bring shivers down your spine. Yeah, that one.

We all looked up to see another man perched up on the high branch. I watched him jump down and he landed safely on the ground with a soft thud. Remember when I said that the first guy—Gou—looked bad? Yeah well, I don't mean to sound rude, but this guy's ugly! I'm only saying this because he's the bad guy around here. He was covered in scars and bandages! And his eye, yeesh! Someone give this guy some eyedrops or something.

"K—Kato! We were just wondering where you were." Gou laughed nervously at the presence of the other man—his boss I guess. "How did things go on your end?" he asked.

Kato's eyes landed on the man. "What do you think?" he snarled, his lips twitching up.

"But at least we got the clan kids. Who knows how much Kumogakure will pay to get their hands on them." The woman smirked, her eyes landing to stare at us. I could feel Shisui tensed up beside me when the Kato's creepy eye stared at us. "We got two Hyuugas, an Uchiha and an Uzumaki. What a good catch we got today." She laughed, folding her arms under her chest.

"Uzumaki?" Kato echoed, tilting his head. His eye landed on me and he immediately jumped on us, his face soooo close to me. I leaned back just to get away from his face.

Hello? Personal space, please dude!

A big creepy grin was seen across his face as he leaned back. "This brat's not an Uzumaki." He began to cackle like a madman. I think he didn't only scare us, even his friends are scared too. "She's Fujino Haruka—Haruka—Haruka!" he laughed.

Shisui sat closer to me, his hand around my own in a death grip.

"So, you've heard of me? I'm the magician extraordinaire, Fujino Haruka!" I exclaimed, throwing a handful of confetti in the air.

"H—Haruka—," Shisui began.

Kato laughed, throwing his head back. "Heard of you? Heard of you! I've been _**looking**_ for you!" he grinned before he crouched down in front of me. "Your father's the one who cause us so much trouble. I didn't think I will find you after I failed to kill your mother." He admitted truthfully.

Wait—what?

Someone get this guy a physiatrist. No wait—get him three.

Kato backed away. The three bad guys huddled together, discussing something I can't hear.

"Aren't you scared?" Shisui asked in a whisper.

Me? Scared?

Nope! Not at all!

I gave him a smile and a-thumbs up. "Just leave this to me~!" I cleared my throat to gain our captors' attention. I don't think I'll be able to take on these bad guys, but it's worth a try! I stood up and walked towards the woman. "Has anyone ever told you about how beautiful you are? This rose is nothing compared to your beauty, miss." I pulled out a red rose from thin air, holding it out for the woman to take.

The woman gave me one of the strangest looks I've ever seen.

It was a blank look.

"Sorry. Don't swing that way, kid." the woman rejected me, taking the rose from my hand before throwing it to the ground, crushing it with her shoe.

Welp! There goes my four hundred ryo for that rose. It was expensive! The least you can do is say no and give me back my expensive rose!

Gou laughed. "How much do you think this brat's worth? She's ain't half bad with words!"

"You can do all you want with the others, but leave this one out." Kato said as he placed his hand on top of my head, forcing me to look into his dead brown eye. A sinister grin was seen on his lips. "She's m _ **i**_ _n_ **e**."

I gave him an uneasy smile.

For the first time.

I think I'm scared.

"Leave her alone, you bastards!"

Is that who I think it is?!

"Obito-nii!" Shisui exclaimed happily at the sight of the older Uchiha.

Obito! My savior!

"Cih! It's him!" Gou pulled out his kunai, positioning himself to a fighting stance.

The woman stopped him, blocking him with her arm. "Don't you see that he's an Uchiha too? He'll be higher in the market with his Sharingan activated." She reasoned.

Obito's eye twitched at the mention of the black market. "You bastard really know how to piss me off! This time, I'll make sure you guys pay for what you did!" he cracked his knuckles, glaring down at the bad guys with his dark eyes.

"You in what army?" Gou sneered, jumping up to fight Obito. "Let's go, Aeko!" the woman followed suit.

I can't really keep up with the fight.

There was just too much going on.

Obito was here and there.

There were kunais and shurikens being thrown around.

Fire balls.

Water.

And then Obito landing in front of us, completely unconscious.

"Obito-nii!" Shisui shouted as he sat beside the boy. When Shisui placed his hand on Obito's shoulder, the boy couldn't help but flinch at the touch. The young Uchiha quickly retreated back and turned his head to glare at the three missing-nins. "What did you do to Obito-nii!" he demanded.

Aeko smirked, holding up a thin needle—a senbon. "Don't worry. He's far more valuable when he's alive. I just gave him a little sedative." She smiled.

Shisui pointed a finger accusingly, his eyes flashing red. A single tomoe spinning in each of his red eyes. "Konoha will stop you!"

Both Gou and Aeko let out a laugh as Kato silently smirked, his eye staring deep into my soul.

I smiled.

Is this reality?


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I present you, a longer chapter! 😃

For those who wondered how Haruka looks like, please check out the cover, for a more bigger picture, you guys can check my tumblr or deviantart.

I would like to thank everyone who has favorited, followed, read and reviewed this story! It means a lot to me!

I wonder if you guys can point out the important events in this chapter! Good luck, fellas! :D

* * *

Act 9  
first performance

* * *

"Get up!"

Shisui flinched when he heard the harsh order of the man standing behind him. He counted. It had been an hour or two since they were taken away from their home.

"C'mon, hurry it up, brat!"

The younger Hyuuga girl had collapse. She was sitting on the ground completely exhausted. Shisui didn't blame her. He was beginning to get tired too.

"K—Kana, please stand." The older Hyuuga whispered quietly, helping the young girl to stand up. She was afraid that the missing-nins would harm them all if they didn't follow what they said. From an early age, she was taught to never obey an enemy's command, but this was a different circumstance.

Sobs could be heard from the young girl. "I—I'm tired, onee-san!" she hiccupped, throwing herself to her sister.

"Didn't you hear what I've said? Get up!" Gou bellowed, his form towering over the two girls. His face was scrunched up in anger and his dark eyes glared menacingly at the children.

Shisui's eyebrows furrowed. "Hey! Don't talk to them like that!" he shouted.

Gou turned to face the boy. "You can talk back now? You were a such a crybaby an hour ago." A smirk was seen across the man's lips.

Shisui stiffened, taking a step back. He averted his eyes to look at Haruka. She had been quiet during the whole walk and he was beginning to get worried. There was a smile on her face and he could also see it in her eyes as well. He didn't know if she was calm or scared. He can't read her at all. It almost seemed that she wasn't fazed by this whole situation.

"Hey, if she can sit down, can I sit down too? I'm tiiiiired!" Haruka drawled out as she immediately sat down with a heavy sigh.

Shisui could only stare at his friend.

"What the _fuck_ —?" Gou snarled as he glared at the redhead. "Get. Up. We don't have time for breaks!" he spat out impatiently.

Haruka let out another sigh. "But we've been walking for _hours_! We deserve an hour break! Isn't that right, fellas?" she turned her head to look at the other kids, a smile on her face as she gave them a wink. The three didn't answer her back and she turned to face her captor. She assumed they agreed. "See? Can't you just give us a five-minute break or something? A candy perhaps?" she asked.

Aeko gave an indifferent stare. "You truly don't understand your position, now do you, kid?" she approached the redhead, staring down at her.

Haruka hummed. "Hmm, I'm on the ground? Hey—can I take a potty-break? I need to use the bush!" she made a face, pointing her finger to the bushes.

Shisui shifted his foot uncomfortably. At this rate, he was more worried about his friend's life than his own.

Aeko's eye twitched. "Do it here then. We don't have time."

"I'm not going to do it here!" Haruka huffed angrily. "It won't take more than a minute! Promise~!" she claps her hands together, a smile of her face.

The woman rolled her head. "Gou. Accompany her." she simply ordered the man standing a few feet away from them.

"Hell no! You do it, Aeko!" Gou bickered.

Haruka agreed. "Yeah! Why can't you do it, pretty lady?"

There was another twitch before the woman lifted Haruka up by the back of her jacket. Without another word, the woman stepped through the bushes and the two disappeared from view.

"You little punks are lucky Kato isn't around." Gou snorted, shrugging Obito off his shoulder roughly. The boy landed on the ground with a thud, but he didn't stir a bit. The drug Aeko gave him hadn't worn out and the man was glad. Otherwise, he would have to deal not four—but five children. "No matter how valuable you are, he will kill you if you cross the line." His lips twitched up to a smirk.

Shisui glared.

They were lucky that Kato was already ahead of them to clear a path to their hideout. Both Gou and Aeko tolerated the childrens' antics to a degree, mostly because of Aeko reminding Gou of how valuable they are. It would be a different story if Kato were the one with the children. There would be no hope for them at all.

Shisui let out a sigh as he sat down, waiting for Haruka to come back. He wondered what was taking Konoha so long to come and get them. He knew that these missing-nins had no chance against his village, but how much longer will he and the others have to suffer under these people? He glanced over to his cousin—who was still unconscious. The chunnin was still out cold and there was no sign that he was going to wake up soon.

The young Uchiha stared at his hands.

If only he had trained harder, then none of these would've happened.

Haruka wouldn't be mixed up in this.

"We're back~" a sing-song voice chirped, making them look at the direction where they heard it. An energetic redhead came out from the bushes along with an irritated looking woman. The redhead walked over towards the three kids, a grin on her face. "Do you guys want to go too?" she asked, throwing her thumb over her shoulder to the bushes.

"No more breaks." The woman said dangerously, glaring at them. " _Move_." She gave a hard shove to make Haruka walk.

Haruka stumbled over, but quickly regained her balance. "Okay, okay, geez!" she huffed out, her arms crossed and her lips puckered out in a frown.

Shisui quickly jogged over to Haruka. "…aren't you scared, Haruka? How are you so calm about all this?" he whispered quietly.

He looked genuinely concerned.

Her teal-green eyes glanced over to look at him, "I have a plan." She gave a wink as she pressed her finger against her lips.

Shisui blinked.

A smirk curled up to his lips. "What do I have to do?"

Haruka smiled.

"You—Shisui, are my lovely assistant."

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was night time.

The night was silent.

"How… much longer do we have to wait?" Shisui asked the girl sitting beside him. It had been a few hours since they arrived in a small dirty shack. The four of them—plus Obito—were locked inside the dark shack with nothing but the moonlight shining through the window. Dark. Cold. Dirty. Hungry. Tired. He was beginning to get pretty impatient. "It's been hours, Haruka." He added, turning his head to look at the redhead.

Haruka hummed, crossing her arms behind her head. "Patience, Shisui! It's not the time for the show to begin!" she moved her finger, 'tsk'ing a few times.

"But this is the perfect time to escape!" Shisui said in a whisper, furrowing his eyebrows. It was the perfect time to escape. There was only one of those missing-nins guarding the door. "There's like five of us! We can take that big buffoon together!" he said in determination.

"Dunno… Obito-nii-san is still out cold. Think we can carry him too?" Haruka waved her hand above Obito's eyes. She moved back to her spot beside Shisui and placed her hand on his shoulder, giving a small smile. She knew that everyone was tired and wanted this to be over with, but it wasn't as easy as it looks. They were going against three big idiots—who know how to ninja-run and throw stars and needles to kill. To be honest, no matter how talented Shisui is—they can't actually defeat the missing-nins. "Don't worry, Shisui. It won't be long now! It will begin shortly, but right now, the curtains are still closed."

"Uchiha-san is right, Fujino-san—,"

"Please! Call me Haruka~!"

She learned they were the same age as them. Both Saya and Kana were sisters—with two years apart, each five and three years old—and from the branch family. She knew it because of the bandages wrapped around their forehead and how hostile they are. No matter if they're from the branch family, the Byakugan would still be valuable if the two are still alive when their eyes were taken.

" _Haruka-san_ ," Saya corrected, her arms around her little sister who was half asleep. "We would be wasting our opportunity if we just sit here and do nothing. We have to do something, _please_." She continued.

"This is all apart of my plan!" Haruka reassured.

Shisui sighed.

The redhead turned to the boy. "C'mon guys! Trust me! I'm Fujino Haruka—Magician Extraordinaire!"

Saya was reluctant to trust the three-and-a-half-year-old girl. She was as young as her younger sister.

"Ugghh…"

Suddenly, the eldest of the five stirred, making the four children turn to where he lays.

"Obito-nii!" Shisui was the first one to react. He quickly sprang up to his side, staring at his cousin in concern. He placed his hand on his cousin's shoulder.

"Obito-nii! Are you okay? Obito-nii!"

Shisui blinked. He opened his mouth—yes. Those were the words he wanted to say—yes. But he wasn't the _one_ who said them. It sounded just like him. As if he was the one who said it himself.

"U—Uchiha-san! Please calm down!" Now it sounded just like Saya.

"Nee-san!" _Kana_.

Shisui turned his head to look at the two Hyuugas, who looked just as confused as he is.

"Obito-nii!" _Him_.

"H—He's injured!" _Saya._ "We need a medic!"

Finally, he turned to face Haruka—who just smiled at him before she stood up and made a run for it to the wooden door.

She started to pound on the wooden door with her fist, shouting:

"Oi! Open up!"

"He's injured! You have to help him!"

"Hurry!"

Shisui couldn't believe it. She was shouting in _his_ voice.

Haruka was using _his_ voice and she sounded _exactly_ like him.

The door immediately flung open. "Would you shut the fuck up?!" Gou entered the shack, his face twisted in annoyance and anger. He walked towards where the children are, the floor creaked in each step he took. He stared down at Shisui before pushing the boy away to look at the other Uchiha. He raised Obito's head by grabbing a fistful of his hair. "Are you fucking kidding me?" he clicked his tongue when he found out that the boy was still unconscious.

Shisui backed away, pushing the two Hyuugas behind him.

Gou turned to face the three children. "You—!"

Simultaneously, a hand patted his shoulder as his eyes was met with a pair of teal-green eyes. As quickly as he turned, a small hand grabbed his much larger one, moving it side to side.

"Focus."

Gou was silent.

"Focus on my voice."

In a split second, Haruka pushed his head forward.

"Sleep."

Gou's head dropped. It was as if he was asleep.

"That's it, just let yourself go. Relax. Relax…"

Everything was silent once again.

"…Haruka?" Shisui called out quietly, approaching his friend.

"YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!"

Haruka was thrown over to the other side of the room. She landed on the hard-wood floor, knocking over a few boxes as she skidded to a stop. The young girl pushed herself up, propping herself on her elbows.

"Haruka!" Shisui quickly went over to the redhead's side. He helped the young girl sat up and his eyes widened when something warm dripped onto his hand. Even with the lowlighting, he could see that it was blood. His hand began to tremble at the sight of his injured and bruised friend. "Y—You're bleeding!" he shouted as his eyes gazed over to bruise on her cheek and the blood coming out from her nose.

"You think your little trick will work, huh? You little shits think you're better than us adults?" Gou spat, kicking an empty can away front his path.

Haruka simply smiled. "I don't think. I _know_." She wiped the blood away with her sleeve, staring up at the man with her teal-green eyes.

"Fuck what Kota said, you're dead, kid." Gou took out a kunai, the smooth surface reflected the moonlight shining through the window.

Shisui stood defensively in front of the redhead. His eyes flashed red.

"Don't hurt her!"

"Pathetic!" Gou shouted.

A hand stopped Gou from plunging his kunai down on the Uchiha. "Enough, Gou." It was once again Aeko who stopped the man from hurting the children. The man lowered his weapon, turning his head to look at the woman and then to the door.

"Aeko."

The woman's eyes narrowed to the Uchiha's red eyes and then to the girl sitting behind him. "The trade's complete. We're delivering them now." She said and she roughly grabbed Shisui by his upper-arm, dragging him with her. the boy struggled with all his might. "Take the Hyuugas." She simply ordered.

"And that one?" Gou directed his head to the older Uchiha.

"Stays with the redhead. Boss has something planned for them both." Aeko said. "Tie them up."

Gou gave a wicked grin. He pulled Haruka up to her feet and grabbed a rope, trying both of her hands behind her back before pushing her to sit beside the unconscious Uchiha. The man checked over the bounds that tied the older Uchiha, securing them one more time before shoving Haruka's head away as he stood back up.

"Wish you the best of luck, you little punk." Gou laughed as he grabbed the two Hyuugas' roughly.

The two girls began to kick and scream, hoping the man would let them go.

Shisui kept on resisting as he tried to reach out for his friend. "Haruka! Haruka! Let me go, lady! Haruka—!" he paused when he saw Haruka flashing him a smile. Her lips began to move.

"Don't forget the magic words."

She said.

The door closed with a creak.

Shisui nodded wordlessly.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

This sucks…

Why?

Because I'm stuck here in a room with a maniac, that's why.

After that Gou punched me in the face and gave me a nasty bruise and a bloody nose, their boss came and sat in a chair without a word. He sat there just watching us. Sometimes, he laughed. Sometimes, he grumbles. Let me tell ya, this guy needs help like a lot.

I glanced over to Obito. I hope he'll wake up soon… I need someone to talk to other than this psycho.

"Ugh…"

Obito stirred in his sleep.

I peered over him, staring down at his face. His eyes slowly opened.

"Ha…ruka?" he rasped out, coughing a few times.

"Hello!" I smiled and leaned back, giving him room.

"Wha—HEY! What's this?!" Obito abruptly sat up, trying to move his arms, but it was hopeless. They were tied together behind his back, making it impossible to him to move. He struggled, tossing and turning. "Arrrggh!" he gritted his teeth as he tried to break free.

"Obito-nii-san." I laughed nervously and tilted my head to the direction where Kota sat.

Obito quickly snapped his head to the direction where Kota sat. "You!" if he could point his finger at that guy, he would—but he can't…sadly. "When I get my hands on you—!"

Kota laughed, throwing his head back. "You'll what? Kill me? I'd like to see you try, kid!" he giggled. His single eye fell on us as a sinister smile was seen across his lips. The dark room made him more creep than he needs to. He held something up for us to see. I squinted my eyes to get a better look. It was Obito's ninja gears. "You have nothing with you. You don't even have the Sharingan. You're _worthless_." He sniggered.

Obito clicked his tongue. "Stay behind me, Haruka." He instructed, sitting in front of me.

Aye-aye, captain!

"I'll make you pay!" Obito stated boldly.

Kota burst out laughing. His laughter filled the silent night. "Your only chance of survival… is only if your father came to rescue you." He pointed his finger to me. Well, duh! Of course, dad would come to save us all! I bet he's with Minato and every other shinobi to come rescue us! "And then—and then I'll make him watch me kill his precious daughter! Just imagining his face make me shiver!"

Hmm…

This guy is completely lost.

And besides, dad don't swing that way.

"You—!"

"But of course, I will make you watch too, boy. You need to awaken your Sharingan somehow, now hmm?" Kota sat up from where he sat and dragged his feet across the room to reach us. Obito backed away, covering me wrong this cray-cray's gaze. He took out a kunai from Obito's holster and held it up to his face. "I just can't wait to see you father cry and beg for mercy." He grinned.

"You sick bastard!" Obito snarled, glaring daggers at the man.

Suddenly, Kota turned, deflecting a kunai aimed at his head. The kunai he deflected embed itself on the floor. Wonder who that is?

"Oh?" Kota tilted his head. A blur of silver moved inside the shack and the sound of metal clashing against each other could be heard. It was hard to keep up with the movements in this darkness, but at least someone came! "If it isn't the White Fang's legacy." He chuckled.

White Fang? Oh yeah—!

"Kakashi!" Obito shouted when he saw the familiar silver-haired prick standing in front of us with his tanto unsheathed. "Took you awhile!" the black-haired boy huffed.

Kakashi clicked his tongue, "It's not my fault that you got kidnapped." He retorted. He threw a kunai near us and hoped that we can somehow untie ourselves. "Quickly." He ordered.

"Uh—hello? Can't move our arms here?" Obito pointed out the obvious.

Hmm, you have a point there Obito.

"Idiot." Kakashi murmured under his breath.

In a swift movement, Kakashi cut through the ropes that binds us. The two of us rubbed our wrist. Freedom at last! I could see the rope marks on my wrist turning purple. Yeesh!

Both Kakashi and Obito went into a stance, holding their weapons to fight off Kota.

"So, what now?" Obito asked.

"Konoha's on their way." Kakashi curtly replied. He raised his tanto and furrowed his eyebrows at the criminal. "Where are the Uchiha and the Hyuugas?" he demanded.

A smirk was seen across Kato's lips. "Sold. To the highest bidder. You will never see them again."

"I wouldn't be so sure." I said, grinning. Both Kakashi and Obito glanced over their shoulder to look at me. I can see the surprised looks on their faces. "Shisui's a pretty tough guy with big words. All fall under his command."

"Haruka—what are you—?" Obito blinked.

"Big words won't get you anywhere, kid!" Kato laughed again.

I pulled out a deck of cards from my jacket and began to shuffle them. "Wanna make a bet?"

I bend the cards and they spring towards Kato, covering for our escape.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Shisui stared at the sight of three shinobis from Kumogakure exchanging words with the two missing-nins. His eyes glanced over to the scroll being handed from the Kumogakure shinobis. He didn't know what was inside, but he guessed that it was probably the large sum of money for them. He knew the situation of the war waging across the nations was making a lot of villages short on money.

He debated whether or not to say the words Haruka told him to say. He was afraid that if he was too early, he would mess up the plan Haruka thought up. He didn't know why Haruka told him to say those exact words, but he didn't want to make all of Haruka's efforts go to waste. He trusted her fully.

"Okay, kids! Say hello to your new family." Gou rudely shoved the Hyuuga sisters to the arms of the Kumogakure shinobis.

"Nee-san! H—Help! I—I don't wait to—!" Kana sobbed, reaching her hand out to her sister.

"Kana!" Saya shouted, veins popped up towards her eyes, her Byagukan activated. She struggled, trying her best to struck one of the shinobi's chakra points even with her hands bound together. "Uchiha-san!" she turned her head to look at Shisui desperately.

Shisui balled up his hands.

"Houdini!"

Both Gou and Aeko immediately freeze, surprising the three Kumo-nins. All of a sudden, Gou lunged forward, a kunai in hand. He lashed out the kunai at the Kumo-nins holding the Hyuuga sisters. Surprised, one of the Kumo-nins jumped back, releasing the eldest Hyuuga while the other kept his grasp on the younger one.

"What the hell?! This is treason!" the Kumo-nin shouted.

Gou remained quiet.

Aeko stood in front of Shisui took out a kunai of her own. She bends down and cut the ropes that bind his hands together. She turned to Saya and break her free from the ropes as well. Shisui quickly grabbed Saya's wrist, pulling her behind him to cover her from the Kumo-nin's view.

The woman gave her kunai to the young boy and turned to face the kumo-nin, a set of senbon now in her grasp.

"W—What's going on, Uchiha-san?" Saya stared at the scene with a surprised look.

"All in the plan!" Shisui smirked as he watched the two missing-nins fought their way to the youngest Hyuuga. Sometimes, a few shuriken and senbons were flung over to their way, but it was easy for him to deflect it with the given kunai.

Aeko threw her senbon at the direction of the Kumo-nin that was holding Kana hostage. Without a time to respond, the senbon embedded itself to his left arm. The Kumo-nin released his hold on Kana, dropping her thirty-feet from the ground.

"Kana!" Saya shouted, making an attempt to dash towards her sister.

"Wait!" Shisui stopped the girl, spotting the danger if she moved forward. There was one enemy-nin ready to swipe her if she was too far from Gou's reach. His eyes saw something zoomed pass him. In a split second, a familiar face was seen. "T—That's!" his eyes sparkled with joy.

A blond-haired shinobi caught the young Hyuuga just in a nick of time.

"Minato-san!"

Konoha's Yellow Flash.

"Ah!" Shisui gasped, realizing his mistake as he covered his mouth. He didn't mean it. He wasn't supposed to say Minato's name yet. It was the code to break the 'spell' Gou and Aeko were under.

"H—Huh?"

"What—? What's going on here?!" Gou demanded, looking at his surroundings. He was very much surprised to see Konoha shinobis surrounding them. "Tch! Konoha! How the fuck did they catch up with us?!" he clicked his tongue.

Minato glanced over his shoulder to see his team had arrived—both Shikaku and Ryouichi were beside the two clan kids. Two ANBUS quickly emerged from the trees to confront the two of the Kumo-nins.

"Damn!" the Kumo-nin cursed at the sight. They were outnumbered—even if both Gou and Aeko seemed to snapped out of the Genjutsu they're under. He readied himself, holding a katana in his hand. He tightened his grip around the handle—facing the Yellow Flash himself as the others faced the others. He froze in his spot. "This is—!" his eyes were averted to look at the shadow that trapped his own.

They couldn't stand a chance against them.

"Retreat!"

"You won't be able to." Shikaku replied coolly as he walked up to Minato. He shoved his hands into his pockets as he gave a smirk to the Kumo-nin. This was a good opportunity for Konoha to captured a Kumogakure shinobi. "Once you're trapped in my jutsu, you won't be able to do anything else." He continued.

Minato turned around, the young Hyuuga in his arms. His eyes looked around the two other kids. "Haruka's not here… neither is Obito nor Kakashi…" he said to himself.

"Can't you use your Hiraishin kunai to locate them?" Shikaku asked, not even sparing a glance to the two fugitives that escaped from their grasps hours before. Their ANBU managed to detain the two while two other ANBUs faced the two remaining Kumo-nins.

The blond shook his head. "I haven't put my seal on them yet." He shifted the little girl in his arms to a better position.

Shikaku sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Tadashi's on his way too with Chouza." He placed his hand on Minato's shoulder, giving a light pat before walking towards the Kumo-nin trapped under his shadow jutsu. "You go on ahead. Let me handle this one." He said.

Minato gave a nod before walking towards the two kids and Ryouichi.

"Kana!" Saya quickly approached the blond man.

"Nee-san!" the young Hyuuga jumped into her sister's arms right after Minato placed her down. "I was so scared!" she sobbed into her sister's shoulder.

"It's okay, Kana… it's okay now…" Saya hummed, running her fingers through Kana's straight dark brown hair. She turned to face Minato who smiled at them. "Thank you so much, Namikaze-san." She smiled.

Minato smiled back, "There's no need to thank me." He turned his head to face the Hyuuga in the group, who nodded at his look.

The man activated his Byagukan and in a few seconds, he found where the others are. "Approximately six hundred and fifty meters North-East from here. They seemed to be fighting—!"

Minato's eyes narrowed.

"What's going on! Is Haruka okay?" Shisui looked up to the Byakugan user.

Minato placed his hand on top of Shisui's head. "Don't worry, Shisui-kun, I'll make sure Haruka-chan returns safely to Konoha." He exchanged nods with Ryouichi before he jumped up into the trees, heading Nort-East.

The Yellow Flash dashed through the trees, jumping from one branch to another as he tried to reach the location as fast as he can. He knew that both Kakashi and Obito are strong for their age, but to face a mentally unstable missing-nin alone? He was worried.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I'm tired.

Yes, I'm not joking. I'm really getting tired.

…of this guy trying to kill me.

After that card escape, we managed to get out of the shack before Kato caught up to us and tried to kill me. I couldn't even count how many times he aimed the shuriken at my head! Luckily, Obito and Kakashi was there to block all those attack away from me.

Kakashi— _being the snob he is_ —suggested that Obito take me to Konoha while he handled Kato himself. While Obito— _being the leaving a teammate is not an option guy_ —refused to leave Kakashi behind to handle this guy. And Kakashi being Kakashi, came up with a plan to summon his ninken to help. He managed to summon one of his ninkens, but that too failed because of the constant attacks Kato threw at us—but mostly me.

"This guy's insane." Pakkun said, staring at the man.

"You got that right, puppy." I replied from beside him.

Kato grinned. "What's the matter? Giving up already?"

"As if!" Obito quickly retorted. He tried to avoid throwing his kunai at the man since it was the only weapon he has at the moment. He frequently used his fireball jutsu, but I can tell that was draining his chakra a lot if he wasn't careful in using the technique.

"It's getting pretty late, huh?" Kato's eye was fixed on me and Pakkun. "Little kids are supposed to be asleep, hmm?" he flashed his toothy grin before he disappeared.

This can't be good…

"Pakkun!" Kakashi shouted, turning his head to look at his ninken.

"Uh-oh! Duck down, kid!" Pakkun pounced on me, pushing us both away from Kato's attack.

I saw the kunai being swung around and raised my arm to wrap it around Pakkun's tiny body to protect him from the kunai's blade. We landed on the ground with a thud and the pug quickly ushered me to stand up to avoid another incoming attack.

I pushed myself up, staring down at the cut on the back of my hand. Yeesh! The world seemed to hate me today…

Pakkun's nose moved when he smelled the blood oozing out and he looked down to my hand. I know the wound won't kill me or anything, but it would be a pain if I want to make lemonade or something related.

"C'mon, kiddo! You got to move!" he bit on my jacket, trying to drag me away.

"Ah, ah, ah," Kato tsked, appeared beside us. In one swift movement, he scooped me up and shushined away to a safe distance—just in time to avoid a kunai thrown by the silver-haired boy. Both chunnins took a step forward in an attempt to fight back. "Oh? Better be careful, boys, or else Haruka-chan will have another accident." A kunai was pressed against my neck.

"Haruka!" Obito bit back the snarl as he took a step forward.

Kakashi stretched his arm out, blocking Obito. "Just what do you want anyway?"

"Revenge! I want revenge!" Kato maniacally laughed. "To the man who tortured me and to the team who captured me!" his eye then fell onto Kakashi and then to Obito. In a blink of an eye, another presence was seen. "Oh, oh! Now all we need is the girl and this girl's father! And then all will be complete!" he grinned.

Minato? Yes! I knew he would come!

Obito flinched when the man mentioned Rin. Don't worry Obito, I don't like the way he mentioned dad or Rin too.

"Minato-sensei." Kakashi said lowly.

"I know…" Minato replied, his fingers slowly reaching to his pouch.

"Ups! Better be careful, _sensei_." Kato cackled as he brought the kunai up to my cheek. His large hand was wrapped around my neck, tightening his grasp in each passing second. "Wouldn't want this kunai to accidentally hurt her now, right?"

Can't… breath!

I placed my hand on Kato's hand, trying to loosen his hold.

…

Okay I was being dramatic there...

I can breathe, it was hard, but I can breathe.

Minato retreated. "Kato. Release Haruka and we might lessen your punishment." He tried to reasoned.

"Bring me the girl's father and I _might_ let her go." Kato shot back.

"You called?"

I blinked—I know that voice!

"Tou-chan?"

In a split second, I found myself looking down at everybody. I realized—we were standing on a high branch. I can clearly see who was here now. There's Obito, Kakashi, Pakkun, Minato, and dad. Okay so—four Konoha shinobis and a puppy. Including me and this cray-cray, there's seven persons and a dog. That's a lot for this scene, I guess—but nothing can compare to the shinobi war episode—that was a lot.

"Release my daughter _**now**_." Dad hissed out, his eyes have that deadly glint in them.

"Should I, should I not?" Kato laughed. "I want you to see as I torture you daughter the same way you did to me, Fujino Tadashi!" he raised his kunai as he took my hand in his.

Uh-oh—! I know what's gonna happen next! I love my nails!

"Starting with her pretty little nails—!"

It all happened in a second, dad was right in front of us as he swung his kunai at Kota'a face.

Dad quickly used that chance to pull me away from Kato's grasp and threw me into another pair of arms. I watched dad continued his attack as I continue to come closer to the ground with Minato, holding me firmly.

As soon as we landed on the ground, Minato made me face him, covering both my ears.

I closed my eyes and placed my hands over Minato's.

La-la-la I can't hear you~

…

Okay… now I can't hear anything.

I opened my eyes. "Is it over?"

Minato smiled and lowered his hands.

"Haruka?"

I turned my head to face my dad.

"Tou-chan!" I quickly run over towards him. I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his vest.

"Haruka." Dad went down to his knees and pulled me into a tight embrace. His hands tremble as they held my shoulders. I gripped on the back of his vest tightly. I could feel his tears running down his cheeks before staining my jacket. "Thank Kami, you're safe…" he murmured, pressing his lips on the top of my head.

"I'm happy you're safe too, Tou-chan."

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was later that Shisui and Haruka were reunited in the hospital to check their injuries.

Out of all the children, Haruka had it the worse.

But she was the one who wasn't bothered by the whole thing.

"Haruka!" Shisui ran across the hall to see his friend being carried by her father.

Tadashi crouched down, letting Haruka down to let her go to her friend.

Haruka grabbed Shisui's hand and pulled him towards her, her hand behind his neck.

Shisui rested his head on her shoulder and a few seconds later, he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"You're okay—!" he sobbed out. He didn't care if he has a pride to uphold as an Uchiha. He missed his best friend and he was relieved to find her alive—injured, but alive. "You're okay…" he kept on repeating himself.

Haruka patted his back comfortingly. "It's okay, Shisui."

Her teal-green eyes fell to the figures standing at the hall.

The Uchiha clan head along with the Hyuuga.

Another one was seen at the far end.

A man dressed in a long robe.

"It's okay…"


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I've been in a Naruto mood lately… I hope you guys don't mind with the updates haha

I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to the reviews… thing have been a little tough. I'll try to reply to the reviews!

Guest1: perhaps it is, but she might've found a way to avoid it lol

Guest2: Ooooohhh! Let's see in this chapter *wink wink*

And I want to thank everyone who has reviewed, read, favorited and followed this story! It means so much to me that you guys enjoyed this story!

* * *

Act 10  
the deal

* * *

Fujino Tadashi did not sleep.

Neither did anyone else who were involved in the case.

 _The D_ _ō_ _jutsu Heist_.

When words got out that the enemy-nin tried to steal children from the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuuga Clan—and _succeeded_ , both clans were _furious_. They demanded the abductors to be executed immediately. The T &I refused, telling them that they still need information and both clan heads reluctantly agreed.

"—the hell should I know?!"

Tadashi kept a calm façade as he observed from behind a one-way see through glass. The room was dark compared to the interrogation room. He had changed shifts with a fellow interrogator to observe from a different angle. A few shinobis stood by his side, keeping a close eye to one of the inmates being interrogated.

There was a rustle. "Is he still evading the accusation from that Kumogakure shinobi?" Shikaku asked, leaning against the wall behind him.

The head interrogator nodded. "He kept claiming that there was no treason between the exchange."

Tadashi's keen eyes were staring at Gou's behavior. His eyes kept on glancing back and forth to see Gou's hands and expression. The redhead was trying to find random physical actions. He was trained to see a lie through one's behavior when under pressure. They tried everything to fish out the truth behind the abduction. Though most of the reasons were clear, one didn't actually add up.

The man saw through the lies Gou made when being questioned about his escape. The redhead reminded him that he _would_ _not_ hesitate to end him right then and there. After that, Gou started to answer truthfully, but when the subject changed to why he and Aeko attacked the Kumogakure shinobis—he started to get antsy and denied the fact—there was no lie.

He saw no lie in that.

It confuses him.

Inoichi frowned. "Genjutsu, perhaps?" the Yamanaka had used the mind transfer technique, but he didn't find anything to answer the unanswered questions

"Seems like it." Shikaku sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's been _hours_ and this guy doesn't want to admit that he was the one who broke the deal—same with the woman." He added, pushing himself off the wall.

"Unlikely," Minato denied, joining in the discussion. He had been one of the first who arrived at the scene. Even when he was in range of the battle, both Gou and Aeko were still fighting against the Kumogakure shinobis—but after he entered the field, they seemed to be released from the genjutsu they were under. He noticed there was something strange about the ' _genjutsu'_ the two criminals were under. "I never saw them use the release seal and when I arrived, they seemed to automatically…come to their senses. Either way, it doesn't seem like genjutsu at all." He placed in his assumption.

"So, you're saying that you're the reason they went back to their senses?" Inoichi turned his head to look at the blond who gave a nod as an answer.

Shikaku groaned. "Thanks for adding more questions, Minato." His eyes glared at the blond—who gave him an apologetic look. Everyone was tired at this point. It had been twelve hours since the first interrogation started and they were not going anywhere after the question of the one-sided treason. "Even if it _isn't_ genjutsu and some sort of jutsu, who's the one responsible for keeping us up all night?" he crossed his arms, his eyes staring at the inmate on the other side of the glass.

"Obito?" Tadashi wondered. "He was the one who encountered the group first, right?" he placed his hand on his chin.

Minato shook his head. "Unfortunately, from his story, he was drugged and lost consciousness till a little before Kakashi arrived."

"Kakashi then?" Inoichi asked.

"No… He didn't fight nor encounter them both." Minato answered.

Tadashi frowned. "Kato was the only one who wasn't in the same state as the other two." from what he recalled, Kato acted like Kato—unstable and psychotic. He was not under the same jutsu Gou and Aeko were under. It was direct orders from the Hokage himself to execute Kato as he was deemed unbeneficial to Konoha. "The only one who were with them the whole time were…" he trailed off.

He didn't want to say it.

"…the kids…" Shikaku finished for him. He gave a sympathetic look to the auburn-haired man. He knew that Tadashi didn't want to involve his daughter after what she went through, but they were the only ones who witnessed everything. They're bound to fill in the blanks. "I'm sorry, Tadashi, but—,"

Tadashi had no choice.

"No… I understand…" Tadashi held up a hand, stopping Shikaku from continuing. He raised his hand and run his fingers through his hair, sighing softly. "I'll ask them."

Minato placed a hand on Tadashi's shoulder. "Let them rest for a bit longer. They had it rough." He said, giving a small smile. "And it's best if we take a little break as well." He added as he glanced around, noticing the tired look across his comrades.

Shikaku yawned. "Now you're talking."

But neither of them rested.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Guess what?

I just met a new face!

She's pretty and kind and wears a pair of glasses and wears a uniform that looks like a nun.

"Thank you so much, Nonō-sensei!"

That's right! You heard me! This is _the_ Yakushi Nonō.

She's too pretty for this world!

"You're welcome, Haruka-chan." Nonō replied as she removed her hand from my cheek. She had used medical ninjutsu before applying a thin layer of gel on my bruise.

Kind of like Arnica cream—that's what I used to use for bruises, sprains and et cetera when I was still a magician in my previous life.

The bruise had healed—not fully, but at least my face doesn't look like a purple balloon. She was the one in charge in healing all of us—Shisui and me. I didn't see the Hyuuga sisters in the room though, maybe they're in another one—or maybe they're being healed by their private Hyuuga healer.

As for Shisui and I, the adults insisted that we stay for the night in the hospital—just to be safe.

Shisui was with me the whole time since last night. Okay, last night was a really tiring night and after the nurses clean us up—we went straight to bed and was out the moment our heads hit the pillow. We share the same hospital room and it was a like a sleepover the very next day we woke up.

—because we chatted like teenage girls endlessly about what happened yesterday.

That is until mom came to visit.

"Try not to touch it, okay?" Nonō chided as she saw me reaching my hand up to touch it, a gentle smile on her face.

I can't resist it, okay?

"Hehe, sorry!" I gave her a salute and a sheepish grin.

After that, Nonō turned to Shisui who stayed still and stiff as she healed his injuries—which is close to none other than the bruise on his wrist. If Nonō was here at the hospital instead of the orphanage, does that mean she was working part time here to earn a few extra funds for the orphanage?

Hmm, it could be…

Speaking of orphanage… is Kabuto born yet?

 _Correction_ —or taken by Nonō yet?

I stared at the woman's face and I noticed her glasses' frame weren't the round ones—they were rectangles.

Aha! So, this means, Nonō has taken Kabuto to the orphanage!

"There, all finished." Nonō announced and she leaned back.

Shisui stared at his wrist in amazement, moving them in a circular motion to feel that it no longer hurt. "T—Thanks, sensei."

Mom bowed her head in thanks. "Thank you so much for healing my daughter and her friend, Nonō-sensei. I'm sorry if we were bothering you with the noise earlier."

Both Shisui and I gave sheepish looks.

"There's no need to thank me, Fujino-san." Nonō smiled before packing away the stuff she brought in with her into the metal tray. "And not at all. It's nice to hear children laughing and happy. They deserve to express themselves all they want." She said.

Man, you've really done it Danzō.

This woman's like a real Mother Teresa version of Naruto and you took her away from her kids. From her job. From Kabuto.

Shame on you, sir. _Shame_ on _you_.

Hopefully, I'm not too late to change this woman's fate.

"Mother?" there was a knock on the door. We all looked over to the door and it creak open, revealing a young boy with a birthmark on his nose.

Nonō smiled. "Ah, Urushi-kun, come inside." the boy did as he was told. He wore a black kimono and a hat with pins on it. He stood in front of us and his caretaker placed her hands on his shoulders. "Could you please look after Haruka-chan and Shisui-kun for me? Fujino-san and I have a few things to take care of." She said.

Urushi glanced over to us and I waved my hand in greeting. "Uh… okay. Sure." He said.

He sounded so uncertain. C'mon, we won't mess with you if that's what you're thinking.

"Thank you," Nonō thanked.

Mom turned to me. "Be good to Urushi-kun, okay?"

"Sure thing, kaa-chan!" I chirped happily before she kissed my forehead and together with Nonō, they went outside. Hopefully to sign papers for our release. It's so boring here in the hospital! And the food sucks—no offense to the cooks who cooked it though. I turned to look at the older boy.

I have to turn the conversation to the orphanage without saying that I knew about both of their jobs.

"Your mom's so nice, Urushi-san." I said, grinning at the boy.

Urushi blinked. "S—She's not my mom!" he stuttered.

"But… you called her mother." Shisui pointed out, tilting his head in confusion.

Atta boy, Shisui.

Urushi huffed. "That doesn't mean she's my mother. She's our caretaker at the orphanage." He placed his hands on his hips.

Hoho, bingo!

"Orphanage? Then why is she working here?" Shisui asked again. "Shouldn't she be in the orphanage?"

I don't think I'm even needed here.

The boy with the hat gave a loud sigh. "Curious ones, now aren't 'cha?" he raised his gaze to meet ours and a frown appeared on his lips. He took a few steps forward and we leaned our head forward, offering our ears. "Don't tell anyone, but I overheard the caretakers said that we're low on money. That's why Mother— _Non_ _ō_ -sensei is working in the hospital." He finished and we both leaned back.

"Eeehh! That's awful!" I said loudly and both boys shushed me. I clamp my hands over my mouth before leaning down. "Aren't all orphanage here funded by Konoha?" I whispered.

A sigh escaped Urushi's lips. "With the war going on, we're lucky to even receive a week amount of funds for a whole month." He explained and crossed his arms.

"I'm sorry… that must be really hard…" Shisui apologized, rubbing the back of his neck.

Urushi shook his head, waving Shisui's worry off. "Nah… you don't need to worry about it. It's not your fault." He said, turning to look at us with a small smile. "You guys reminded me of someone from the orphanage. He's a curious one. Much more-quieter than you two, but he's around the same age as you."

Ding! Ding! This was easier than I thought!

"Hey, hey, how about we help raise the funds for the orphanage?!" I suggested loudly and enthusiastically, surprising both boys. They shushed me again and I didn't shush. I've been thinking for like fifteen minutes and thought of a really amazing and brilliant idea that will probably save the orphanage's economy problem.

Shisui stared at me weirdly. "What do you mean?" he asked.

I turned to face him. "You know, a fundraiser! Charity event! Bazaar!" I listed off, holding up my fingers. I looked over to Urushi who was already considering my idea. "If we have some sort of event planned and everyone from the village can come, we can raise enough money to help the orphanage!"

"That's… a good idea, but how can we manage an event that big?" Urushi asked, a hand on his chin.

I blew a raspberry. "It'll be a piece of cake! All we need are food, entertainment and small games, and maybe a yard sale!"

I do magic shows for a fundraiser once or twice and it was fun!

"…yard sale?" Shisui blinked.

"It's like selling things that you don't need anymore and then donate the money you earned to the orphanage." I explained briefly to him and he nodded his head. I turned my attention back to Urushi. He was really thinking hard and considering it now. "My grandparents owned a bakery, I'm a hundred percent super sure that if I say it's for charity, they will give us tons of bread to the event!" I said dramatically.

Maybe not tons, but you get the point, right?

Urushi sighed. "Do you really think we can do it?" he seemed to doubt himself.

"Of course!" Shisui suddenly exclaimed. "We can raise a lot if Haruka perform her magic!"

Oh, Shisui! I feel honored!

"Magic?" Urushi turned to face me and I just smiled and pulled a flower from thin air to give to the boy. He looked so surprised that I was scared his eyes would pop out. He took the flower nonetheless, staring at me as if I had grown two heads and a beard. "W—Whoa…"

"Right?! Haruka's amazing! With her magic tricks, I'm sure we can earn thousands and thousands of ryo!" Shisui grinned.

Oh shucks!

I'm not that expensive

…yet

"What's this I hear about fundraising and charity?" we looked over to the door, seeing a familiar Uchiha with his team. It was Obito, of course! In a few places, he and Kakashi were wrapped up in bandages. I don't blame them though, Kato was a real psycho to deal with. He walked inside our room and flashed us his million ryo smile. "Whatever it is, I'm in! I'm down for some charity work!" he laughed.

I smiled up at him. "Ah, Obito-niisan, if it's possible, your smile is enough to raise a fund for the orphanage that would last for a thousand year!" I plucked out another flower from thin air to give it to him.

"W—Wha?!" Obito seemed to chocked on his own spit. His face began to reddened from my compliment as his hand shakily took the flower.

Kakashi snorted from behind him. "That's what it takes to make you flattered? Flirts from a two-year-old?"

"I'm turning three this year!" I huffed out, puffing my cheeks out.

" _Fine_ , from a three-year-old, happy?" Kakashi rolled his eyes, correcting himself.

I nodded. Yes. Very.

Obito turned to face him, his fist raised threateningly. "S—Shut up!" he stammered while his face is still red. He pointed his flower at the silver-haired teen.

"Stop it you two," Rin shook his head with a smile on her face. She placed a plastic bag on the nightstand beside my table and turned to the three of us, specifically Urushi. "If it's alright, do you think I can join in too?" she said.

"Of course! The more the merrier!" I exclaimed and turned to look at Kakashi. I doubt he would join us, but can't hurt to try right? Maybe this event is all it takes to melt his frozen heart.

Kakashi crossed his arms. "No—"

"C'mon, Bakashi! This is for charity! You can't say no!" Obito glared at his teammate.

"We're in war—"

Rin turned to look at him. "And because of that, the orphanage is low on funds. C'mon, Kakashi… we're doing this for the village too." She tried to convince the stick-up-the-ass boy.

Nice, Rin!

Kakashi sighed. " _Fine_."

Obito, Shisui and I cheered happily.

If they're in, then Minato and maybe Kushina might join in too!

Rin smiled. "I'm sure I can convince a few of our friends to donate their things for the fundraising event."

"Leave all the heavy-duty stuff to us!" Obito gave a thumbs-up, referring to himself and Kakashi.

"Oi!" Kakashi looked angry, but can't deny the fact. He sighed and gave up. "Fine, fine."

"And don't worry about the flyers. I'll handle that." Rin gave a wink.

Urushi looked as if he was about to cry from joy. "T—Thank you!" he wiped the tears away before they spilled. He turned to look at all of us. "I'll—I'll definitely convince Nonō-sensei and the others to agree! They can't possible disagree with this amazing idea!" he grinned.

"There's no need for that," Nonō was at the door. I'm guessing she and mom heard everything that we discussed. She walked inside the room and placed a hand on top of Urushi's head, giving a light pat. "You already have my permission." She approved.

This settles it!

"Yay~!" I cheered, pumping my fist up in the air. "So, when will the event be?" I asked to the nun.

Nonō hummed. "How about around spring? The cherry blossoms are beautiful around that time."

"How about the 4th of April?" I suggested to her.

"Haru—" Mom started, but I turned to face her with a grin on my face. She let out a soft sigh, but a smile was seen on her face.

"Lovely. We will have just enough time to prepare." Nonō smiled. "Thank you all so much for considering your time to help us." She bowed her head to thank us all. Urushi did the same, bowing a ninety-degree bow.

Mom shook her head. "We're glad that we can help out." She said, smiling.

"Come over to the orphanage when you get out of the hospital, okay?" Urushi grinned, inviting both Shisui and I over.

"Definitely!" Shisui laughed.

This is going to be awesome.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was later that day that I found the room so full that even I was suffocating from the silence around us all.

A lot of important people are in this tiny hospital room.

There's team Minato.

My parents.

The Uchiha clan head.

The Nara clan head.

The Hyuuga clan head—what's he doing here anyway?

And finally, the Hokage himself—what's he doing here too anyway?

Poor Shisui, I could feel the guy shrink with all of the people staring at him.

I looked around the room, trying to find someone who will actually start the conversation. I bet all of my money that this has something to do with what I did to Gou and Aeko.

Shikaku and dad exchanged nods.

Dad stood in front of me and Shisui, kneeling down to reach our eyelevel. We were sitting on the bed, by the way. "Shisui, Haruka—sweetheart, I know this will be hard, but I want the both of you to tell us what happened yesterday."

Yesss! None of you guys are getting my money!

"All of it?" Shisui tilted his head.

Dad nodded and gave him a smile. "Don't worry about the bad people who kidnapped you. They won't ever touch you again." He reassured, placing his hand on his shoulder and the other on mine. "How about we hear your side of the story first, Shisui?"

Shisui nodded his head slowly.

"O—Okay… well, we were playing ball in the park and then that man suddenly took us away." Shisui began, looking a little nervous at first. I don't blame him. The stares Fugaku and Hiashi were giving him were intense! "Then that guy met up with his friend who took Saya-san and Kana-san. I tried waking Haruka up, but she won't! But after a while she finally did!" he said a small smile on his lips.

So, nothing really happened when I was out cold, hmm…

"That woman mistaken Haruka as an Uzumaki." Shisui added.

Minato shifted, crossing his arms. "I think I can understand why…"

Yeah, my auburn hair. Why must everyone think that anyone with red hair is an Uzumaki?

"And then this Kato guy arrived. He started talking funny about Haruka." Shisui frowned.

I nodded my head in agreement. "Yeah, he was really cray-cray in the head." I mover my finger in a circular motion beside my temple.

Shisui nodded his head too, "Yeah, but Haruka was so brave! She tried to convince the woman to let us go, but it didn't actually go well…" he turned to face me and I gave a sheepish look.

Dad stiffened. "What happened?"

"I gave her a flower and said that she was really pretty." I laughed a little.

Kakashi was so close to snort and I almost see Obito slip. Rin stopped them both from embarrassing themselves though.

Dad and mom relaxed a little. "And then what happen?"

"Obito-nii came!" Shisui said happily, turning to face the black-haired teen, who laughed sheepishly at the attention he was receiving. "He was fighting those three, but then the woman stabbed him with a senbon." He continued.

"And then we were told to follow them to a shack—"

I smiled.

Shisui doesn't remember about awakening his Sharingan.

It's for the best.

This way, he won't be sent out to the warzone in a young age.

He can live his childhood happily.

"—Haruka was really cool!"

What? I heard my name and the word cool in one sentence.

"I really thought Obito-nii was waking up, but he wasn't! I ran over to Obito-nii and then Haruka—Haruka was using my voice to draw attention. She even sounded like Saya-san and Kana-san to make that guy come inside the shack. That guy did come inside to check, but he found out that Obito-nii is not really waking up." Shisui stopped to catch his breath.

Aww, you're making it seem like I'm your hero or something. I'm flattered! Really!

I glanced over and found that everyone was listening to intently to Shisui's story—especially Obito.

"And then Haruka did something to that guy. He was so quiet. He was listening to what Haruka was saying to him, but then he suddenly woke up and punched Haruka in the face." Shisui frowned.

I laughed nervously, placing a hand on my cheek. It hurt. Like a lot.

Dad turned to face me as Mom gave my hand a squeeze.

"After that… they took Saya-san, Kana-san and I to meet the Kumogakure shinobis." Shisui paused, glancing at me and I gave him a nod. "Haruka didn't say exactly why I should say 'Houdini' and 'Minato-san', but now I know! It was to make the two free us and attack the Kumogakure shinobis instead." He flashed me a grin.

I returned his grin with my own.

"You're the one responsible for putting Chojiro Gou and Higashi Aeko under a genjutsu?" Fugaku finally said something. He sounded as if he didn't believe that a two-turning-three-year-old girl could do it.

I turn to him, a smile on my face. "I wouldn't call it genjutsu, Uchiha-sama." I move my hands in front of my face, throwing a handful of confetti into the air. "It was magic."

Cue jazz-hands and the silence.

Don't worry, nurse! I'll clean the confetti up.

"What did you use on them, Haruka?" Dad asked.

"I put them under a spell." I answered.

They looked as confused an I am when I go paint shopping with mom. Seriously, what's the difference between cream and ecru anyway?

"Would you care to demonstrate?" Hiashi said, his arms crossed. He looks like he wasn't taking anything from me.

I don't really mind showing them how I hypnotize Gou and Aeko. Hypnotizing was something that I rarely do in my shows, but desperate time calls for desperate measures! It's not like they can actually do this without me teaching them anyway, so I guess no harm done!

"No prob!" I turned to look at Team Minato. There is no way I'm putting my parents into this. They'll cut my paycheck and ground me for months if I do this to them. Lord Hokage and the clan heads are out of the picture. Minato's too cool for this and Rin's too nice. Obito's my hero. So, I turned to the next best candidate. "Hey, Kakashi-niisan? Could you please help me out?" I asked.

Kakashi let out a sigh before walking closer to the bed. I guess he was curious too. I'm glad you're finally recognizing me, Ka-chan!

I stood on my knees on the bed as I took his hand and began to move it side to side. "C'mon, Kakashi-niisan! Relax! Your arm's so stiff!" I laughed, staring into his eyes.

Kakashi relaxed his arm, but he didn't seem to believe that I can do this. "I don't get why this—"

I pulled him forward, pushed his chest and placed my hand behind his neck. "Sleep."

His head dropped and his eyes were closed.

I could almost hear the audible gasps from everyone.

I can't actually use the same move I did to Shisui. I pushed Shisui's head forward to put him under the hypnotism, but for Kakashi, I used a different method. Though, I'm glad to know that I can entertain you people.

"Kakashi-niisan, when I whistle once you will spin around once and when I whistle again, you'll stop and wake up. You won't remember what I told you to do." I whispered quietly, so that only he will hear.

I gave a single pat, to wake him up.

"—will work." He finished his unfinished sentence and glanced around the room to look at the surprised look across everyone's faces.

I gave a whistle.

Kakashi spun around once.

I whistled again.

He woke up.

Kakashi turned to his team. "What?" he glared at Obito—who look at him the most weirdly.

"Y—You—!" Obito pointed his finger at his teammate. "You… don't remember?" he asked.

"What should I remember?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

"Amazing…" I heard the Hokage mumbled.

I bowed. "Thank you! Thank you!"

"You have to teach me that!" Shisui beamed, looking determined to learn the new trick.

Poor Kakashi, he looked super confused.

Hey, at least I didn't make him twirl like a ballerina.

I laughed. "You haven't even master the flower one yet."

"I—I can master it! Just gimme some time, 'kay?" Shisui stuttered, a blush across his cheeks.

I could feel dad's gaze on me. "Haruka… since when were you able to do this?" he asked softly.

"Ever since I want to be a magician!" I answered. I can't answer ever since I was reborn, now can I? "I came up with all of these so I can be the best magician!"

Lord Hokage gave a chuckle. "She is a very creative and talented girl, Tadashi." He walked closer to the bed and bends down a little to our eyelevel. "How would you and Shisui-kun feel when I ask you to join the Academy next semester?" he offered, a kind smile on his face.

Hmmm. A three year old joining a class of with a bunch of six year olds?

Shisui turned to me, his eyes beaming with excitement. "W—Wow! This is great Haruka! We'll be in the Academy together and we could even be in the same team when we graduate!"

I hummed, thinking for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, but I don't want to join the Academy." I smiled, giving him my answer.

"Eh?" Shisui blinked.

Obito was the loudest. "EEEHHH?!"

Everyone looked so surprised—even _Fugu—_ Fugaku and Hiashi. Seriously, what's so surprising about declining the Hokage's generous offer?

Lord Hokage was the first to snap out. "May I ask why not, Haruka-kun?"

"I want to be a magician and put on shows to entertain people and put smiles on people's faces!" I said truthfully.

Dad smiled and mom looked relieved.

"That would be a waste of your talents." Hiashi said.

Thanks… I guess?

"Would you not rather be a kunoichi instead, Haruka-kun?" the Hokage asked again. "You have an amazing gift that would help us a lot."

Hohoho! He was persistent on making me go to the Academy.

Well, I'm more persistent than he is!

"Then perhaps let me think this through until the 4th of April." I said to him.

Lord Hokage raised an eyebrow. "4th of April?"

"Why so specific?" I guess Shikaku finally found his voice after being repeatedly amazed by yours truly.

"Ah! That's the date when the fundraiser will be held!" Shisui grinned.

I nodded my head. "If you have the time, Hokage-sama, please join our fundraiser! Everyone is invited. I'll be performing there too." I said proudly, puffing my chest out in pride.

A chuckle escaped Lord Hokage's lips as he placed his hand on top of our head.

"I would be honored."

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kabuto didn't really know what was going on. He really didn't. One day, Nonō and Urushi returned from the hospital, announcing that they will be holding a fundraiser to help the Orphanage's finances, and the next… everyone was excited to join into the event. It was the talk of the week. Everyone was busy preparing for the upcoming event next month.

And then, a week after, there was this girl.

"Ah, Kabuto! Come meet Haruka and Shisui!" Urushi called over the boy to him.

Kabuto approached the group of three, staring at the redhead and the black-haired child. They gave him a friendly wave and he returned it with a shy one.

Urushi laughed as he pushed Kabuto a little closer. "C'mon! Don't be shy, they're the ones who thought up about this idea!" he smiled, encouraging the boy to be more open.

"I'm… Kabuto…" Kabuto introduced, bowing his head.

Shisui grinned. "I'm Shisui!"

Kabuto turned to the redhead.

She cleared her throat, taking a step closer. "I'm Haruka! Nice to meet you!" a flower appeared in her hand and she held it out for him to take.

With a radiant smile and a wink, she said:

"Please be my assistant."

The grey-haired boy blinked.

"P—Pardon?"

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A/N: finished~

I don't know how you guys feel about hypnotism, but I guess it's true. I was told by my grandmother about her experience...

The honorific for doctor in Japanese is actually 'sensei'.

Urushi is a real character from Naruto! I'll try to use more canon characters from Naruto into the story! :D

So, now we have Kabuto! Poor guy he doesn't seem to know what's going on lol

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well!

Quick question, what do you guys think of what Haruka has planned?

See you guys in the next chap! :D


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, I present you, the longest chapter ever~ with over 11k+ words (excluding the notes)

Thank you guys so much for the reads, reviews, favorites and follows! You guys are the best!

Oh yeah! Check out the awesome fanart of Applause done by _TobisSenpai_ on their Deviantart!

To the guest reviewer~

Mo: it is a very interesting subject haha

Sydney: thank you!

TobiOrToObito: hohoho, maybe. She is pretty set on becoming the greatest magician ever~! Ninja bodyboard, eh? *wink*

Guest: Nope! Shisui is one year older than Haruka.

Guest 2: Lol Xd

Papers: haha that probably might happen

Guest 3: A mary sue, huh? Thank you for your opinion ;)

Guest 4: Ooohhh! I like Casanova! That might happen, especially after the show haha

Guest 5: I'm glad too! I have just recently got back into Naruto. LOLOLOL Jiraiya and Haruka will certainly be an entertaining duo!

Kabuto: yes, yes he is lol

Thankyou: aww thank you! :D

Guest 6: aww thank you!

Anyway, she you guys at the bottom~

* * *

Act 11  
4/4

* * *

 _February 27th_

"I heard my favorite magician is in the hospital!"

The door slammed open, surprising all of us.

There she was, standing by the door, completely out of breath.

"K—Kushina, not so loud… we're in the hospital." Minato laughed nervously, trying to calm his girlfriend.

I have to admit, I was surprised to see Kushina here—she said that I'm her favorite magician! Well, I'm the only magician around, but who cares! I'm Kushina's favorite~!

"Are you okay—holy shit! Someone punched you in the face?!" Kushina almost dropped the plastic bag when she saw my face. It wasn't that bad, right? How can I be cute when there's an unsightly bruise on my cheek—I just hope it heals in time for the event. "Where's the bastard that did this, 'ttebane! I'll punch him straight to Kumo and back!" she raised her fist in anger.

Minato smiled nervously. "Language, Kushina…"

Obito could only quiver at the sight of the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero.

"Thanks for coming to visit, Kushina-san! But we're not staying here for long." I grinned. Thank goodness—because I don't like hospital smells. It smells like medicine and antibiotics.

Kushina took a deep breath and smiled at the two of us. "Well, I'm glad to hear that! Hospital sucks!" she said childishly, ruffling our hair.

The Hokage, Clan heads and dad had left the room around an hour ago. Mom decided to sign a few more papers for my release from the hospital. I don't know why my parents decided to leave me and Shisui with Team Minato—which included a grudge holding and angry Kakashi—to babysit us. He wasn't all that impressed when Obito told him that he spun around like a little girl.

We all know the truth about what I did.

And Rin—bless the girl's kindness—had told Kakashi the truth before he killed me for making a fool out of him in front of everyone.

This day marks the day I lost the privilege of asking Kakashi to be my assistant.

I've never seen someone so bitter to a two-turning-three-year-old before…

 _BAM!_

It was the second time the door to the hospital room was slammed open.

I never thought I'll see the day…

The day of someone finally rivaling my dad…

"SHISUI!"

—in terms of showing affection to his child.

"T—Tou-san!"

It was a few minutes after Kushina made her grand entrance when Shisui's dad came to visit us in the hospital.

Shisui's dad is alive. He was just as I expected. He has that Uchiha's _tall, dark and handsome_ gene. Seriously, you Uchihas were gifted with the power of beauty and you guys decided to neglect the power! You guys could get away with everything if you just smiled. Sadly, most of you don't even know the word smile.

"Tou-san! Not in front of everyone!" Shisui huffed out childishly, his cheeks were dusted with pink as his dad keeps on hugging him and rubbing his cheek against his son's.

Welcome to the family, Maes Hughes #2!

Shisui's dad cleared his throat and straightened his posture. "Right… sorry…" he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly when he noticed the smiles on Team Minato's and Kushina's face. He turned to face Minato, a small smile on his lips as he bowed his head. "Thank you, Minato, for saving my son's life." He said.

Minato shook his head. "The real hero isn't me, Kazuo." He said and placed his hand on top of my head, giving a light pat. "Haruka-chan is the real hero."

Aw shucks!

Hearing that from the legendary Yellow Flash makes my heart flutter like a butterfly!

It's nice hearing compliments from someone as awesome and great as Minato.

 _Scoff_

I heard that Kakashi!

But I decided to ignore him.

"It's nice to meet you, Shisui's Tou-san!" I threw a handful of confetti and streamers into the air. They were the ones I used around an hour ago. I had cleaned it up with the help of Rin and now I decided to make a grand introduction to my lovely assistant's father—who deserves more than just confetti and streamers, but it was all I have at the moment. "I'm Haruka! Shisui's friend!" I grinned.

Sadly… I also ran out of flowers… the one I gave to Nonō and Urushi were my last ones.

Because you betcha I would pull the flower trick on Nonō too!

I mean, who could resist it?

No magician could resist it.

"You're Haruka? Shisui told me a lot about you." Kazuo—Shisui's dad—smiled as he crouched down to reach my eyelevel.

Seriously, I can't wait to grow up and be tall. These guys were freaking giants! They all have to at least be around 5'9" or somewhere above. I was 5'5" when I was Megan and I hope I could at least be that tall too as Haruka because disguising as tall people would be hard if I just reach their shoulders.

"Thank you so much for being Shisui's friend. I know he can sometimes be—"

"Tou-san!" Shisui interrupted, glaring at his dad.

Kazuo laughed, ruffling his son's hair.

"But thank you, Haruka-chan, for being there for Shisui when I can't." Kazuo said, sitting on the bed beside Shisui.

I stared at him, studying his expression and appearance. It almost seems like he ran all the way to the hospital. He wasn't here yesterday when we were brought to be checked. It must be because he was on a mission out of Konoha and had just returned because he heard the news of his son had been kidnapped. I can just imagine the enemy standing in his way when Papa Bear is trying to get to his son. Never mess with a Papa Bear, guys!

"Shisui's my best friend!" I held up a fist to Shisui and we both fist-bumped.

Ba-la-la-la-la~

…

I think I'm going to say it…

"I'll say it, I was… a bit scared when we were kidnapped and all that." I admitted, giving a sheepish laugh as everyone is the room became quiet. We dropped this topic like an hour ago when the Hokage and everyone else left the room, but this is the only way to do it. "It was so scary to know what they would do to us."

Should I?

"Haruka-chan…" Minato gave me a sympathetic look. You don't have to be a mind reader to know what he was thinking. _You truly are just a child._

Maybe I shouldn't…

"But then I looked at Shisui, Saya and Kana—and Obito-niisan, and I know I have to do something." I added and turned to face Shisui, but before that I looked at Obito and saw that he was trying hard to held in his tears. "Even though I'm scared—I have to try."

Okay!

I'm going to say it!

"My friends are my powers and I'm theirs~!"

There.

I've said it.

I quoted one of my all time favorite video game. Those who don't like Kingdom Hearts are the ones who haven't played it! Because a crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy is the best thing that ever happened in the history of video games and no one is going to tell me otherwise.

Kakashi could use some Kingdom Hearts quotes. Maybe those friendship quotes will knock some senses into him.

"…that was the _cheesiest_ thing I have ever heard in my life." Kakashi snorted, his arms crosses over his chest. "How long did it take you to made that up?"

I laughed. Looks like I need something stronger to influence Kakashi with the power of friendship.

Obito shoved Kakashi away. "Don't say that, Bakashi! That was the most wonderful thing I've ever heard!" of course, he would be the first to be influenced by the power of friendship.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. " _Of course_ , you would say that, idiot." He said sarcastically.

"What does that mean?!"

"C'mon you two…" Poor Minato, he could only try to separate the boys from killing each other in the hospital room.

"You're just the cutest!" Kushina squealed, rubbing her cheek against my uninjured one.

Rin giggled as she placed her hands behind her back. "I think it's adorable."

Thank you, Rin, Kushina. Thank you.

Now I'll know which one will be a Kingdom Hearts fan, if the game existed here.

"You really mean that, Haruka?" I heard Shisui asked.

I turned my head to him and gave a nod. "Of course!"

"Then I'll be the greatest shinobi!" Shisui exclaimed determinedly. I stared at him as he raised his hand, balling them up into a fist. His eyes stared at his fist before returning to look at my eyes. "I'll be stronger and cooler and master all the magic tricks! I'll protect you! Promise!" he raised his pinky, waiting for me to link my own.

You truly are a great kid, Shisui.

"Thanks, pal!" I linked my pinky with his own.

Pinky promise.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 _February 28th_

"Sorry for intruding!"

The very next day, Shisui and his dad came over to my house.

"Sorry to make you wait!"

Because I was the one who invited them over.

I realized that I only have like thirty-five days to prepare my show for the fundraising event. I asked Shisui to come over. He and his dad gladly accepted the invitation. Plus, mom decided not to work in the bakery today to keep me company!

Mom also invited Kushina and Minato and his team over for lunch—because she was really grateful that they saved me from the evil clutches of Kumogakure's shinobis.

Or no one could resist the temptation of free food.

Dad would've invited his friends too, but they were busy with work while he was given permission to have a day off. Too bad, I kinda want it to be like a lunch party with everyone—but then again, the fundraiser event is like a big event—so maybe we'll have a picnic and all that.

Kushina and Rin offered to help mom in the kitchen while the dads plus Minato decided to head over to the dining table and chat there. Kakashi was bored and Obito challenged him to a spar. They can do it in the backyard—but they have to promise to stay out of mom's flowers—because I also don't like it when someone ruins my mom's flowers.

As for Shisui and me… we were in the living room—we dominated the place and told our dads and Minato to move. The reason why I didn't do this in my room is because… well this is sorta like a gathering and I want to be around everyone and see everyone, besides—who would want to miss the chance to be in the same room as Kushina, Kazuo and Minato along with his three ducks.

"So… wha'cha gonna do for your show?" Shisui asked as he sat on the floor, propping his head up with his hands as his elbows were rested on the low table.

I hummed, balancing the pencil between my upper lips and my nose.

To tell the truth. I haven't decided what tricks I should perform.

There will be kids watching the show, so I can't perform any of my 'dangerous' tricks.

There would be civilians watching the show, so I have to prove that I'm not using ninja tricks.

There will be shinobis watching, so any knife throwing acts are out for the moment—because I know that would just convinced them more to convince me to join the Academy.

There will be a Hokage and probably Clan heads, so I have to impress them.

And then, there will be a Kakashi in the crowd, so I have to wow his mind with my amazing skills. I have yet to amaze him and I'm determined to make him go wow.

"Maybe start with something simple?" I shrugged.

Shisui sniggered behind his hand. "How about you do what you did to Kakashi-niisan?" he whispered.

I could see Kakashi snap his head to our direction when we mentioned his name. Dang! This kid has ears! He could even hear us from all the way from the garden and still dodge Obito's kick.

I shook my head, taking the pencil. "Nah… that's boring!" I sighed out dramatically.

"B—Boring?! It was super cool!" Shisui baffled, staring at me weirdly. "You got him to do what you want!"

"I sometimes go by Thurston's Three Principles." I said, tapping my pencil on the blank piece of paper. I sometimes go by them, sometimes I don't. I began to list the simple magic tricks that I would perform to the kids and teens.

Shisui blinked. "What's that?"

Oh yeah… No Howard Thurston here… ups!

I turned my head to face him. "It's my rules when performing magic."

"One must never reveal the secret to a trick. Never tell the audience what is about to happen. Don't repeat tricks in front of the same audience."

I wrote down the rules on a different piece of paper and gave it to Shisui—who read it as soon as it was given to him. "But the most important rule, is to keep your poker face on!" I smiled, pointing both my fingers to my face.

"I didn't know you have rules about performing magic…" Shisui said, placing the paper down. "But they do kinda make sense…"

"Right? If you reveal the secret, then it's the same as killing the magic. If your audience can predict what's going to happen then that would just be boring." I twirled the pencil in my fingers, moving them from one hand to the other and then made it disappear.

Shisui gasped in awe when he saw the pencil was no longer in my grasp. I leaned over to him and reach my hand out to his hair.

"And if you perform the same trick twice to the same audience, it will give them a chance to reveal the secret." I pulled the pencil out of his hair, giving another twirl before placing it on the table.

"So, what are you going to do? I think the genjutsu thing was still cool and only a few of us saw it." Shisui pointed out, taking a sip from his juice box.

I did the same and took a long slurp from the straw.

That's actually the problem. I'm not too fond on putting my audience under hypnosis. I rather wow them with my amazing skills rather than use hypnosis. Besides, I think every ninja here would mistook hypnosis for genjutsu. Everyone would just mistake it as some fancy no chakra justsu or something and that's no fun.

I need to make everyone know that magic tricks and jutsus are two different things.

The fundraiser was my big chance. My very first step to become a well-known magician!

"Lunch is ready!"

Deciding can wait. Food comes first.

Hey, guess who's not a happy little boy?

That's right.

It's Kakashi.

He wasn't happy that he was eating with the kids. There weren't enough room in the grown-ups table and we had to eat in the living room—which was right next to the dining room. The only difference is that the table was filled with children—only Shisui and me, but Kakashi considered Obito as one too.

We all started to dig in while Kakashi just crossed his arms with a grumpy look on his face.

"C'mon Bakashi! Dig in! It's delicious!" Obito said with his mouth full. "The sweet and sour karaage are awesome!"

"Obito…" Rin giggled behind her hand.

"Oi, Obito! Don't talk with your mouth full!" Kushina chided from the grown-ups table, raising her fist up threateningly at him.

Obito almost chocked when he heard Kushina yelling at him.

Kakashi rolled his eyes before he pulled his mask down—which kinda surprised me, but how else is he going to eat the food? His team seems fine, maybe he had a few meals together and they were used to Kakashi's baby face. seriously, his face is so cute! If only his personality matched his face.

"Hey, Shisui! I'll trade you my karaage if you eat my green pepper." I said, picking out the green peppers from my plate.

"Give me two of them and you have a deal."

"Haru-chan, eat your vegetables." Rin chided, giving me a disapproving frown.

"Shisui, I taught you better. Ask for three than two." Kazuo added.

"Are you teaching him to rob my daughter's food?"

"It's called bargaining, Tadashi."

To say the least, the only sane ones in both tables were Minato, Rin and mom. Overall, it was a pretty fun lunch party. I really hoped that we could do it again sometimes.

The table had been cleared out and the dads and Minato decided to wash the dishes while the ladies take a break. Obito laid down on the floor, completely full and sleepy from all the food he has eaten. Kakashi sat on the couch as Rin sat on the floor beside us, looking at all the doodles we drew when we were talking. I'll admit, I was never good at drawing, but it's a good way to show how I want the show to be.

So far, I had scribbled down English on my paper—Rin just thought that those were just zigzags or grass—since I wrote it with a green colored pencil.

But I still can't decide about what trick I should do for the grand finale~

It has to be something fancy, but not expensive—because I don't have the greens to hire someone to make the props for me.

I sighed, placing my head on the table.

"Ah, are you drawing a bird, Shisui-kun?" I lifted my chin up when Rin peered over Shisui's shoulder to see what he was drawing.

I also peered over to what Shisui was drawing. It was a number three with a line in the middle. Hehe, I used to draw birds like that too!

"What are these small lines?" Rin asked, pointing to the tiny lines sticking out from the curves.

"Feathers! I'm trying to make it look realistic!" Shisui explained with a grin.

…birds…

Doves…

Feathers…

That's it!

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 _March 7th_

It had been a week and all of my preparations are almost done! I just need a few more stuff to buy and I'm ready!

It took a week for the whole Dōjutsu Heist to die down. It had been the talk of the week among shinobis—not civilians because I heard that Minato told them it was all apart of a drill. But as fast as it spreads, it dies down. Though, I'm pretty sure the Uchihas and Hyuugas were still pretty bitter about it. I mean, they are a prideful clan—two of the four noble clans in Konoha.

Today would be the day we visit the orphanage!

We promised Urushi to visit and we haven't got the time because we need an adult to accompany us to the orphanage and because it was still too far for us kids to go alone.

Guess who the adult is?

It's Shisui's dad!

"Thanks for taking us to the orphanage, Kazuo-san!" I thanked, giving a friendly bow,

Kazuo chuckled as he crouched down and ruffled our hairs. "Now, be good you two. I'll be back in a few hours. I have to pick something up." He said before standing up.

Shisui gave a salute. "Okay!"

Kazuo gave us one last smile before he walked away and disappeared from our views.

"Oh! You guys came!" the two of us turned around to see Urushi walking towards us, a big smile on his face.

Shisui rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry we weren't able to visit sooner," he apologized.

Urushi shook his head. "No worries! You were probably busy with what happened." He simply waved Shisui's worry away. "Everyone's really excited about the fundraiser." He commented.

"Who wouldn't? I mean, the Hokage said that he'll be coming to the event!" Shisui said.

Hehe, he did say he promised to come to the fundraiser.

Urushi looked surprised. "W—What?! Really?" he turned his head to me, trying to confirm.

I gave a nod.

"W—Woah… this is _big_ …" Urushi said in bewilderment, a disbelief look across his round face. "It has to be perfect!" he exclaimed.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. "I think it's best if we keep it between us. I don't want everybody to be too serious in this event. This is a fundraiser, not a competition! Just relax and go with the flow~"

I really don't want everyone to be barking that this has to be perfect.

Urushi blinked before sighing, "You're right… sorry." He gave a short laugh before he turned around. The mysterious boy quickly hid himself in the shadows when we all turn to look at him. "Ah, Kabuto! Come meet Haruka and Shisui!" he waved his hand, motioning for the young boy to come.

Kabuto?

Is this the Yakushi Kabuto?

The boy slowly came out of the shadows, his head ducked down in embarrassment that he was caught spying. He lifted his head up just a little to see us and we quickly gave him our most friendly hand wave and charming smile—because we're just that charming.

Kabuto returned it with a shy one.

He stopped right in front of us, his gaze stuck on his shoe.

Urushi laughed as he pushed Kabuto a little closer to us. "C'mon! Don't be shy, they're the ones who thought up about this idea!" he smiled, giving encouragement for him to see us.

"I'm… Kabuto…" Kabuto introduced, bowed his head in greeting.

Shisui grinned, pointing a thumb to himself. "I'm Shisui!"

I cleared my throat and took a step forward. "I'm Haruka! Nice to meet you!" I pulled out a flower from thin air and held it out for him to take. Kabuto stared at the flower with wide eyes. I lowered the flower down a little and flashed him a smile. "Please be my assistant." I gave him a wink.

Who wouldn't want a Yakushi Kabuto as an assistant?

Kabuto blinked confusedly, his lips parted open.

"P—Pardon?"

I laughed sheepishly.

"Sorry!" I apologized, still holding the yellow daisy.

Besides roses, daisies are my favorite. If you ask me when I was a kid, the flower I would draw would be daisies—because it's the easiest to draw. Mom loves daisies—even more than I do. We even have a special spot in the garden just to grow daisies—which is also my source of flowers now, but every time I picked mom's flowers, I would plant a new seed to replace the one I picked.

Ups, I think I'm getting off track here!

I raise the flower again, holding it out for Kabuto to take. "It's just a habit whenever I see someone pretty or—"

Kabuto's face was redder than a tomato now. "S—Sorry?" he stuttered, adjusting the glasses perched on his nose with shaky hands.

As far as I know, Kabuto is a very, very skilled shinobi. He's here. He's there. He's everywhere! Not, Minato's 'here, there, everywhere' level, but I mean as an intel. He knows everything and I hope he will know everything too even if he doesn't join ROOT.

But perhaps, I might've been a little too… bold with him at the moment.

Urushi laughed, giving a slap on Kabuto's back. "She did that to Nonō-sensei too when she healed them! I bet that's her way of being friendly."

"I… I see…" Kabuto coughed into his fist as he took the flower from my hand. His hand was shaking so badly that I could've sworn he was going to faint then and there. He held the flower and bowed his head down in thanks to me. "T—Thank you for the gift. I h—have to go now!" he turned around and made a beeline towards the building.

I never knew Kabuto was so shy as a kid!

Way different than his adult self. Creepy beyond all reasons—even more than Orochimaru.

…no offense to you both.

"That guy…" Urushi sighed as he stared at the orphanage's entrance. The two of us turned to him, waiting for him to continue. He turned to face us and gave us a smile. "He's always so shy around new people. So, don't worry about it, okay? Just give him some time and he'll warm up to you guys." He said reassuringly.

I hope so.

Urushi patted my shoulder and threw his thumb over his shoulder to the entrance. "C'mon, Nonō-sensei and everyone else are inside. Everyone is excited to meet you two." he said before turning to walk towards the door.

"Hey… Shisui?"

Kabuto was trying too hard not to touch my hand and I'm a little offended because of that...

I don't have cooties!

I swear!

Shisui is prove!

"Kabuto doesn't like me much, huh?"

"That's his fault then." I heard Shisui say. I turned around and found him pouting and all that. His lower lips were puckered out in a frown as his eyes glared at the ground. His arms were crossed over his chest and he refused to look at me in the eyes. "He clearly doesn't appreciate your magic."

Ohhhh~

What's this?

What is _this_?

I grinned and poked Shisui with my elbow a few times. "Uchiha Shisui, are you actually _jealous_?" I sniggered behind my hand.

Shisui turned to face me. "I am not!" he denied, stomping his foot on the ground. His face says otherwise though. His cheeks and his ears were red. I didn't know that if Shisui lie, his ears would turn red! Have to take a mental note for that.

Note to self, Shisui's ears turn red when lying or denying something.

I laughed. "Your ears told me otherwise. Looks like we need to work on your poker face next time." I pointed to my own ears and he quickly covered his ears with his hands, turning away from me. I approached him from behind and tried to peek at his face, but he kept on avoiding me. "C'mon, what got you so upset that you're _actually_ avoiding to look at me for once?" I joked as I poked his cheek.

He mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?" I cupped my ears, leaning closer to him.

I didn't quite catch what he said.

"It's because you asked him to be your assistant!" Shisui huffed out loudly—

–in my ear.

Oh, my poor eardrums…

"…That's it?" I cringed, sticking a pinky in my ear to get rid of the ringing. That was the reason why Shisui was jealous? I was expecting something else. I thought he was jealous because I gave Kabuto a daisy or because I called Kabuto pretty or something. "What got you so jealous because of that anyway? I thought you wanted to be a magician too?" I asked him.

"Not jealous! Just… a little upset…" Shisui shuffled his feet, kicking a pebble away. "I want to be a magician, but—I'm your assistant too, right?" he finally looked at me in the eyes with a sad-kicked-puppy look.

D'awwww

He finally nailed his puppy look!

I burst out laughing, holding my sides. "Shisui, Shisui, Shisui!" I calmed down and straightened my posture. I placed my hand on his shoulder a raise a finger up with my other hand. "One of the keys to a successful show is the assistant. A magician can't just have a single assistant. Sure, most of the time we perform alone, but the assistants also have an important role—even more so than the magician. One can't work without the other." I explained with a smile.

I don't believe in an assistant having lesser roles than a magician. They both have the same role in performing on the stage. Equally important.

I have a few assistants when I was performing in my previous life. They were the ones who made my impossible tricks possible. Beatrice Lou. Abigail Jones. Ethan and Jayden Lopez. A second family. They were the best bunch a magician could ever asked for. We were the best team there is.

"Teamwork is what makes the magic happen." I grinned, poking Shisui's nose.

Shisui stared at me as he held his nose. "You know a lot about this… it almost seems like you went through it a few times." He said, giving me a curious look.

I laughed.

You don't know how right you are.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The kids were…well—kids.

They were much friendlier than the ones at the park—that's for sure. They're pretty excited to do the fundraiser because they said it would totally help the caretakers by a lot. In fact, that's what I've been hearing all day.

"Mother won't have to tire herself again!"

"Mother can finally relax."

"Keiri-san and Kanpu-san won't have to worry about the budgets ever again!"

"Maybe with the extra money—we can buy something for them!"

"Yeah!"

These kids were angels. Saints.

Well, they were raised by one. So, it's not that surprising.

Never have I met little kids so thoughtful.

We sat in the dining hall, huddled at one of the long tables. Shisui and I sat in the middle of the children with them sitting beside and in front of us. There were more children in the orphanage than I expected.

They each introduced themselves saying their names one by one. I admit, it was a bit hard trying to memorize all 150 more or less kids. There were around ten of the kids who stayed behind after being introduced by Keiri and Kanpu.

Most of them were already in the Academy or already genin—but is still helping around the orphanage because of how much they loved their Mother. The oldest one being ten years old and the youngest one was five—two turning three if you include me.

Do I need to repeat myself saying, that these kids are angels?

Yes. Yes, I do.

They're angels.

"So, Haruka-chan, mind telling us what you might be performing in the show?" A girl with pigtails asked—if I'm not wrong her name's Airi? I learned that this girl just joined the Academy last semester. "We heard from Urushi-kun that you'll be performing your magic." She giggled, propping her elbows on the table.

Urushi laughed. "I actually don't know what she'll be performing, but I bet it'll be great!" he said as he turned his head to face me.

"You betcha it would!" Shisui grinned. It's nice to see that Shisui's back to his cheerful self again. The little guy wasn't Shisui if he wasn't radiating with sparkles and enthusiasm that would put mine to shame. It just nice to see someone really excited in learning magic. "I bet she'll blow our minds with her awesomeness!" he turned his head, facing me with the same grin plastered on his face.

"I can guarantee that!" I agreed, flashing him the 'nice guy' pose.

"Can't wait to see what you have!"

I hummed.

A single performer in a big event is boring.

"Hey, how about everyone perform a little something for the show?" I suggested, because this is about them—not me. This whole fundraiser is about making everyone recognize the orphanage's kids. That way, the Hokage will pay more attention to the orphanage. I mean, I can bet that Danzō's already ogling candidates for his ROOT with his dirty eye. "You know? Sing, dance, play music or even a short play!" I listed off, holding out my fingers.

"That's actually a great idea!" A boy exclaimed excitedly from where he sat.

A girl who sat beside him nodded her head in agreement. "Although it's not the main focus, but the Academy's teaching us how to play instruments!"

"We can demonstrate our Taijutsu! That would wow the crowd!"

I grinned.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 _April 3rd_

We were a day away from the fundraiser.

We _mysteriously_ received an amount of early donation to make the stalls and games possible. I bet my money that the early funds came from someone like Shikaku or Chouza or even Lord Hokage. Anyway, most of the stalls were built by Kakashi and his friends—who agreed to help out on the event—without payment. Even Minato pitched in to help them build the stage. We have a few simple games that would be managed by grandpa and grandma's friends.

As for the food, just as I expected, grandpa and grandma agreed to bake breads and cakes for the fundraiser—if we promote and give ten percent of the sales—because the bakery would shut down if we don't have money to buy ingredients. Kushina also wanted to donate her cooking for the fundraiser. I heard from Minato that Kushina's cooking is the best.

Overall, everything was going well. A little too well if you asked me.

But I'm not complaining because everything's going well.

"Hey, Kakashi, my mother told me to donate this." The senbon chewing boy said, holding up a bundle of something wrapped in a green furoshiki. I met this guy a few days ago when we were building the stalls.

Kakashi gave him a look from where he was. "Why are you giving it to me? Give it to Nonō-sensei. Can't you see I'm busy?" he snapped.

Despite him being so snappy and grumpy, Kakashi didn't leave. He stayed and helped us a lot. He was really handy with a hammer—way more than Obito.

Genma sighed. "Hey, kid, come over here and do me a favor, will ya?" he turned to face me and motioned his hand for me to come closer.

I gave him a suspicious look.

"Don't tell someone else to do your job, Shiranui." Kakashi said coolly as he continued to nail the two pieces of wood together.

"It's called a favor, Hatake." Genma scoffed.

I grinned as I jogged over to them. "That just means you owe me one, right, Genma-niisan?"

The brunet seemed to stare at me before turning around on his heels. "I'll look for Nonō-sensei myself." He grumbles under his breath as he rubbed the back of his neck.

I sniggered behind my hand.

Kakashi let out a sigh before standing up.

"Oi, Bakashi! Are you finished yet?"

Kakashi's left eye twitched as he crossed his arms. "What do you think?"

"Great! Now, help me set the tables!" Obito said, carrying a table to the open space. We decided to just use picnic mats for everyone to sit on instead of providing chairs for everyone to sit. There will be a few tables and chairs, because I was thinking about how difficult it would be for pregnant women to sit down. And because I know some clan heads are to high and mighty to sit on mats. "There's more inside. Around three to four I think?"

The silver-haired boy sighed before dragging his feet to the orphanage to take the tables.

"Can I help, Obito-niisan?" I asked, looking up at him.

Obito grinned down at me. "Sure! You can help me by putting the chairs."

"Roget that, captain!" I gave a salute and decided to set the folded chairs into place.

My preparation for the show was complete. During the weeks, I practiced the performance. For the grand finale, I asked Shisui and Urushi to be my assistant. I wanted to ask Kabuto—but the guy was so shy around me that I decided to ask Urushi. And let me tell you, Shisui was excited. I've never seen him so excited before! We practiced a lot of times to perfect the performance. Though, I admit, it was hard to teach a first timer—but it was worth it.

Keeping my performance, a secret was hard when someone kept on popping out every hour or two to check on us.

I want it to be a surprise!

It also didn't help that Might Guy kept on challenging Kakashi to a duel.

It distracted me a lot, because I want to see what silly shenanigans they have.

"Kakashi! I challenge you to a duel!" I heard a boisterous voice shouted. I turned my head just in time to see Guy giving his 'nice guy' pose to Kakashi who looked bored and annoyed at the same time.

"Not interested." Kakashi simply ignored him and left the poor guy standing.

"Just you wait, Kakashi! Someday, you will duel with me!" Guy pointed his finger at the silver-haired boy, a determined look across his face. I always liked Guy and his dad's charisma. They were so inspirational and always look at the good things instead of the bad. "Hey, little girl! Do you need some help?" he turned to face me.

They're my spirit animal really.

"Ah, thank you, Guy-niisan." I thanked him as he helped me carry ten of the chairs.

"Have we met before?" Guy asked, his pearly white teeth flashing in the sun.

I stared at him, giving a deadpan look.

Obito glared at the black-haired boy. "Of course, you've met her, Bushy-Brows! You just met her not two days ago!" he raised his fist threateningly at the boy.

Guy blinked before he dropped all of the chairs he was carrying, surprising the both of us. "Please forgive me, little girl! To redeem myself, I shall run five hundred laps around Konoha!" he shouted into the skies, both of his hands raised up above his head.

I laughed. "There's no need for that, Guy-niisan." I simply waved Guy's over-the-top punishment before taking a few steps forward, careful not to trip on any of the folded chair Guy dropped. I pulled out a white handkerchief and covered my left fist. I pulled off the handkerchief and a single flower is now visible in my once empty hands. "Otherwise you'll tire yourself out before the fundraiser." I tilted my head, giving a smile.

Guy began to cry comically. "SO YOUTHFULL!" he cried out, his tears were like waterfalls now.

Obito's eye twitched before shaking his head. "Geez…"

We continued to set up the chairs.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 _April 4th_

The weather was nice and everything was going by smoothly. The fundraiser was a really big hit. Many people came to donate and enjoy the event that was set up. Laughter and music filled the air. Despite being in war, the atmosphere held no tension. It was only joy. That moment, everyone can forget the tragic war and just enjoy themselves. Just for one day, everyone was enjoying their time.

The welcoming committee consists of Nonō-sensei and a few of the kids from the orphanage. They were welcoming people left and right.

Grandpa and grandma volunteered to manage the food stalls and they were making a killing from it. People lined up to buy the food and sweets that were made. It almost seemed like they're enjoying their job too much.

For the guests, just as I expected, most clan heads were present. Shikaku, Chouza and Inoichi all made it to the fundraiser. I knew that they would made it for the fundraiser. Shikaku was there when I personally asked the Hokage to join the fundraiser. If Shikaku's coming that means Chouza and Inoichi are coming too. Even if it wasn't for that reason, dad is still their friend.

I could see a few Aburames, but can't actually see where Shibi is because everyone is wearing the same colored hoodie!

The Inuzukas were really, really, really easy to spot.

The Hyuugas were also easier. They have this high and mighty aura around them that makes them easier to spot. Not to mention they have white eyes too.

"Haruka-san?" I turned around to see Saya along with her sister, Kana.

A grin appeared on my face. "It's been awhile you two! How have you been?" I greeted. "Welcome to the fundraiser! Are you having fun?"

Kana smiled. "Yes! The games are so fun and the dango is yummy!" she smiled—she was around my age so it was easy talking to her. I didn't have to tilt my head up so high to look at her. Now that I have a good look at her, she was a cute Hyuuga. Her hair was short and she was wearing a pastel yellow kimono with white flower patters. Her big sister had longer hair and was wearing a darker colored kimono. "And the Sakura are really pretty!" she giggled, glancing up to look at the flowers.

"I'm glad you're enjoying your time!"

"Haruka-san,"

I hummed, turning to the older Hyuuga. "Yeah?"

"Thank you—for saving us both from the Kumogakure Shinobis." Oh… it was about this again—Saya bowed her head down and Kana did the same. I waved my hands in front of my face frantically. They really didn't have to thank me or anything! Really! I really don't deserve it—if they want to thank someone—then it should be Minato. "I apologize we weren't able to thank you earlier—!"

Her vision was covered by a single red rose that I pulled out.

"There's no need to thank and apologize me for anything, Saya." I smiled and she kept on staring at the flower. "After all, we are friends."

Saya blinked. "…friends?"

I nodded. "Of course~!"

"… thank you, Haruka-san."

"So! Are you guys staying for the show?"

"That's why we came here for! Right, nee-san?" Kana turned to face her sister, a smile on her face.

I smiled. "Then I won't disappoint! Please enjoy the activities we have!"

Saya held Kana's hand. "We will, thank you, Haruka-san." She gave me a smile—a _smile_ —before leaving to join the other Hyuugas.

I placed my hands on my hips.

That went well.

I looked around the area and grinned. The next… I wasn't expecting the Uchiha clan head to come.

Well I have hopes that he will come.

Just maybe… 0.00005%.

Maybe less...

"Hey… Haruka?" I turned around to see Shisui. He was acting weird again. His posture was slouched, his head lowered a little as he refused to look at me in the eyes. A sign. He kept fidgeting, opening and closing his palms. His feet shuffled a few times. Another sign. His eyes dart left and right. He was nervous. "Do you think… maybe… that we could practice one more time?" he whispered quietly.

I blinked. "We've practiced a lot of times, Shisui! I'm sure you can do it!"

"But what if I mess up and the illusion won't work?" Shisui raised his gaze, finally looking at me in the eyes. "Everyone will laugh at me." He sighed.

I never knew he has stage-fright.

"They can laugh at us both. We're in this together." I placed my hands on his shoulders, giving a pat.

For a four-year-old, Shisui is very—very—very talented. Sure, we practiced a lot of times and there were mistakes, but he got it right at the age of four—while I got it right at the age of _twenty_ -four.

"But I'm super-duper sure that everyone will love us! We'll wow them with our awesome magic! So, raise your head up high and be confident!" I grinned, cupping his face.

Shisui's uneasy frown turned to a bright grin. "Thanks, Haruka!"

I pulled him closer and draped my arm over his shoulder. "Hey, maybe if you still feel nervous—you can imagine the audience in their underwear—"

"Ew! Gross! I'm adding more!" Shisui gagged. He even went far as to make sounds.

That's what my dad used to told me when I did my first show.

Shisui suddenly became quiet. I raised an eyebrow and stared at him before following his gaze. I squinted my eyes to see what got him so serious.

Then came the _bomb_.

There he is, the Hokage.

"Isn't that… Hokage-sama?" Shisui asked as he furrowed his eyebrows, trying to focus on the group of people around the robed man. I hummed and nodded my head in reply. It was indeed Hiruzen along with a few others that I can't actually see because they were tooooo far. "Oh my—he's with the Legendary Sannin! And Minato-san! A—And Biwako-sama!" he let out the most fangirl-sih gasp I've ever heard.

I gave him a look before turning my head to look at the group of heroes.

Move out people, here comes the Justice League.

Seriously though, never thought I'll see the day the heroes would waltz in the fundraiser—in slow motion

—or was it just my imagination?

Either way, the Justice League is real—that is until Orochimaru go cray-cray.

I whistled. "That just means we have to bedazzled them, huh?"

Shisui gave a smirk. "Let's do it!"

I turned to look at Urushi—who was by the stage. He noticed me looking at him and he quickly gave a nod, disappearing into the backstage.

I cleared my throat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" I said loudly, gaining everyone's attention. Everyone's eyes were on us now and everyone was quiet. They stopped what they were doing to look at us. I raised my head to look at them. "Thank you all for waiting. In just a few moments, the show will begin!"

A round of applause was heard.

"We have a lot of fantastic shows lined up and we hope you enjoyed your time!"

I took a step back, making sure there wasn't anyone near us. I pulled something out from my pocket and raised it above my head.

I threw the colorful smoke bomb to the ground.

"Let the show begin!"

* * *

 _The guests have arrived._

 _It's show time._

* * *

Minato was glad he came on time for the fundraiser. He had feared that he would missed the event. If he was ever late or chose to not come, Kushina would come for his head because he missed her favorite magician's show. The fundraiser had become bigger than he expected. At first, he just thought that it would be a small event, but it was so much bigger. Many clan heads were present in the event—even the stoic Fugaku was there sitting on one of the chairs with his wife.

And of course, to add more, the Hokage came to the event because a little girl somehow got him to come.

The Jōnin didn't know how Haruka did it, but she did it.

She managed to get all these people in one spot.

"So, what are we doing here again, Old Man?" his sensei, Jiraiya, asked his sensei.

Hiruzen hummed. "To watch the show of course."

Jiraiya raised his eyebrow. "Show? What show? I thought this was something important."

"It is important." Hiruzen chuckled as he continued to walk forward with his wife, his students behind him.

"Geez…" Jiraiya sighed. He glanced over to his two former teammates. He really thought that it was important because of his two teammates. It was because Orochimaru rarely left his lab and it was even rare to see Tsunade out in the open. The only thing that would get them both out is, if Hiruzen summoned them.

"I think you'll be impressed with the show too, Jiraiya-sensei." Minato smiled, glancing over to the two kids standing a few meters away from them. They were easy to spot because of how Haruka's hair color stood out from the crowd. She grinned before turning to Shisui, whispering something to him. "I'm actually really looking forward for the show." He added.

"Show this. Show that. What show?! Would someone please tell me?!" Jiraiya huffed out childishly, his arms crossed.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Same as always." She murmured under her breath.

"What was that, hag?" Jiraiya averted his eyes to look at Tsunade.

"Shut up—!"

Minato came in between them. "There are children here—no bad language—"

A sigh escape Orochimaru's lips before he turned around on his heels. "If anyone need me I'll be in my lab—!"

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

A childish voice shouted loudly, making everybody stop—including Orochimaru himself to stop on his tracks. All attention fell on the little red-haired girl along with her black-haired friend. A confident smile was plastered on the girl's face as she looked around, her eyes briefly looking over them before moving on.

"Who's that brat?" Jiraiya made a face, staring at the girl.

Minato smiled, "The one who convinced Hokage-sama to come."

Jiraiya almost lost his balance and Tsunade blinked.

Orochimaru hummed in respond. "Really now?"

"Thank you all for waiting. In just a few moments, the show will begin!" the girl continued.

A round of applause was heard—including from the spiky-haired blond beside the three Sannin.

"We have a lot of fantastic shows lined up and we hope you enjoyed your time!" she and her friend gave a bow.

Minato blinked when he saw Haruka pulled something out from her pocket. She raised it above her head and threw it to the ground. Everyone gasped in surprise when it exploded into different colors of smoke—covering a part of the area in rainbow smoke.

"Let the show begin!"

He heard her shout from inside the smoke.

As soon as the smoke cleared, both Shisui and Haruka vanished from where they previously stood—leaving confusion and murmurs among the crowds.

"She can make an entrance, that's for sure." Jiraiya commented.

"Shhh! Be quiet!" Tsunade immediately shushed the man.

Everyone's attention turned to the stage when they heard music. The empty stage was now filled with children in matching black shirts.

"I see… it was a diversion." Orochimaru said as the children started to dance along the music. Children began to gather around the stage to get a better view of the performance while a few adults gathered at the back. "Quite an opening, I might say."

Minato nodded his head in agreement. "Shall we find seats then?" he directed his hand to the open area.

No matter how entertaining the show was, people still have time to glance at the group of four as they made their way across to find their spots. Minato went over to where Kushina and his team are sitting. As while the Sannin sat near their teacher, a few rows behind where Minato was at.

"You made it!" Kushina grinned as Minato sat down beside her.

"Wouldn't miss it." Minato replied as he looked over to the stage and then to his girlfriend.

Kushina smiled, raising her fist. "Good! 'cause if you did—!" the smile didn't actually reach her eyes.

Minato laughed nervously and turned his attention when people started to clap.

The first performance was over.

The blond had to admit. The performances were entertaining—they were simple and yet, so full of life. He wondered if Haruka did actually planned all of the performances. On one hand it was impossible to think that a three year old could manage and organize an event this big, but on the other—she was full of surprises. It was almost as if she thought of everything from the start.

Before he even knew it, it was Haruka's turn to perform.

Her entrance wasn't as grand as before.

She just walked into the stage, pushing a table with wheels to the middle.

Minato took a breath. This was actually the moment the shinobis were waiting for. Sure, he enjoyed the previous performance, but Haruka's performance would determine if she really is a prodigy or not. He knew from the start that she was indeed smarter than most kids her age, but this was different. Before the Dōjutsu Heist, she was just a regular magician, but now—everyone wanted to see how far she could do.

Haruka walked up to the front of the stage, standing there with a smile on her face.

Minato sighed. She looked so small—too small to even be performing, let alone be in the battlefield.

"Good afternoon, everyone! Is everyone enjoying the show so far?" Haruka asked cheerfully and received a few replied. She grinned took off her hat, giving a bow. "Well, I'm Haruka—the Magician Extraordinaire and I'll be last performer on this show." She smiled, but no one replied to her.

"Awwwww." Suddenly Obito whined, only his voice was heard from the crowd.

"Shut up, idiot!" Kakashi scoffed.

The little redhead laughed before putting her hat back on. "But don't worry—I'll make sure to entertain, so be sure not to close your eyes." She pointed at the audience, giving a wink and a charming smile.

"Confident little kid," Kazuo chuckled.

Tadashi gave a proud smile. "That's my daughter."

"First, let's start with something simple!" Haruka pulled out a red handkerchief and placed it on the table. She took off her hand once again and showing it to the audience. It was empty. She flipped her hat a few times and place it on the table over the handkerchief. "Everyone loves animals, right? I mean—who doesn't love animals? They're fuzzy and cute and fluffy and—and cute." She laughed a little.

She clapped her hands together and raised her right hand, a wand appeared between her hand.

The redhead tossed the wand up and caught it before tapping on the hat twice.

"Hmm? Oh! Hello there lil' guy!" a white rabbit popped its head out from the hat. Haruka took the rabbit out and placed it on the table. Another one popped its head out from the hat and she took it out from the hat. "Oh! I see you brought your friend." She said as she took out another rabbit from the hat.

Everyone clapped when the rabbits kept on coming out from the hat until her table was full.

"Okay! So, you brought your whole family!"

Haruka held a handful of rabbits, a grin on her face before she placed them down on the table with the rest. She took her hat and pressed it down to a disc, tucking it into her jacket. She took out a cloth from her pocket and placed it over the table of rabbits. She waved the wand a few times and grabbed the sides of the table and pulled the sheet off.

The table was empty.

Gasps and claps were heard around the audience.

Haruka bowed as she stepped around the table to the front of the stage.

Suddenly, her expression turned to a surprised look, her finger pressed on her lips to shush the audience. She glanced around, looking left and right before looking at the audience a smile on her face.

Music began to start in the background.

Haruka flicked her wrist and a fan of cards appeared in her grasp. The girl flicked her right wrist and another fan of cards appeared. She threw the cards down to the stage before taking out another card.

And another.

And another. And another.

The cards kept showing up in each movement of her hand—that it was making everyone think that it was impossible to hide all of those cards in her sleeves.

People began to clap as the music's beat began to fasten.

Minato watched the movement of Haruka's fingers. They were fast and smooth, he couldn't see a single gap in her movements.

The stage was now filled with her cards.

As the music stopped, Haruka pulled two more cards in each of her hands. Ending the act with cards that has the village's symbol.

She flicked her wrist and the two cards disappeared. She stared at the floor, shaking her head. As is she just thought of an idea, she snapped her fingers and reached into her pocket and pulled out a sheet—that was impossible to fit inside that tiny pocket. The girl covered the cards on the floor with the white sheet and quickly picked it up, revealing that the cards on the stage floor had disappeared. She flipped the sheet over, showing that it almost wasn't on the other side.

She draped the sheet over her shoulder as she gave a bow.

"Wooooo! Go Haru-chan!" Obito cheered loudly as he clapped just as loud.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Must you be so loud, loser!"

"Go Haru-chan!" Kushina cheered, whistling.

Kakashi face-palmed.

Minato chuckled as he clapped along. He turned his attention back to the girl on stage.

"Thank you, thank you!" Haruka smiled, bowing over and over again as she folded the sheet to put it on the table. "Now for my next trick, I need some help from my assistant and a volunteer!" as if on cue, Shisui came out from the backstage, pushing two boxes stacked together.

It was an ordinary box—that looked like it has been made by a three year old.

"Who would like to help me for my next trick?" Haruka asked the crowd.

A few children's hands shot up, shouting 'Me! Me! Me!'

Haruka glanced around. "Ah, the girl in the blue shirt, please come to the stage!" she directed her hand to one of the children sitting at the front. The girl quickly went up to the stage with the help of Nonō. "Would you mind telling us your name?" she asked.

"N—Nami… Nakamura Nami." The girl introduced, bowing her head a little. She was a little older than Haruka and Shisui.

"Do you mind if I call you 'Nami'?" Haruka asked and the girl shook her head. "Okay, Nami, I want you to help me crush my assistant." She said, pointing her finger at the boy.

Nami looked surprised. "E—Eh? W—Why?"

Haruka pouted. "Because he stole my cookies—that's why."

Shisui rolled his eyes. "I bought you another one, now didn't I?"

"Well, yeah, but they're not the same brand." Haruka pouted, puffing her cheeks out loudly. The audience let out a few short laughs at the duo's bickering. "Now, in you go!" she opened the front on the box.

Shisui sighed before he stepped inside the box—that was clearly smaller than he is.

The redhead closed the box, but there was a hole showing Shisui's face—who was clearly making funny faces.

"Okay, okay, that's enough." Haruka knocked on the box and a black sheet rolled down to cover Shisui's head. The audience giggled as both Haruka and Nami moved to the back of the box. "Okay, Nami, in the count of three, let's push this box down together!" she placed her hands on the box and the girl did the same.

"Everyone please countdown with me!" Haruka turned her head to the audience.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

The two girls pushed the box down. What once was a two-box stacked together became one box. Haruka held out a finger as she ran to the side and grabbed something else. It was a tube in the same shaped as the hole on the box. She showed it to the audience. Empty.

Haruka placed the tube in the matching cut out on the box. She pushed the tube inside, going completely through the hole. She turned the box to the audience, allowing them to see through the hole made from the tube.

"Eh—?!" Nami bends down to see through the tube and was met with the faces of the audience's surprised looks. Haruka joined her and looked through the hole, smiling at them before putting her hand through the hole—waving happily. "H—How is that possible?" she gasped.

Haruka stood up and pressed a finger on her lips. "It's magic." she pulled the tube out from the box, putting it aside. She asked Nami to once again help her pull up the box. She knocked on the front twice. "Hey, Shisui, you in there?" she asked.

The black sheet was lifted up, giving a view of Shisui's grinning face. "Yeah."

Haruka laughed and opened the box, letting Shisui out. "Ladies and gentlemen, Shisui!"

Shisui bowed his head, grinning as he waved his hand goodbye, pushing the box away.

"Before you go back, Nami, there's something that I want to ask, what is your favorite animal?" Haruka asked, taking out a balloon from her pocket. She began to blew into the balloon, filling it with air. She held onto the long balloon, waiting for the girl to answer her.

"A rabbit."

"A rabbit? Okay!" Haruka began to twist and turn the balloon and everyone was inching away—afraid that it would suddenly pop. The girl closed her ears, backing away a few steps as the squeaks could be heard in each twist. "And, ta-da! A bunny!" she presented the balloon animal to the audience before giving it to the girl.

"Next, question! What's your favorite flower?"

"A rose?"

"A rose! Okay then!" Haruka pulled out a pin and held it out.

Everyone knew what was going to happen next.

"This might be loud, but it's worth it!" Haruka quickly popped the balloon animal. As it popped, a rose replaced its place in the girl's hand—along with confetti raining down. "A red rose for the beautiful girl." She bowed down to the girl and turned to the audience. "Please give a round of applause for Nami!"

Haruka clapped for the girl before facing the audience. "Now, my next trick will be the last one—," there were a few whines coming from the kids and of course, Obito at the back—who wanted an encore. "But I promise you, it'll blow your mind." She winked.

Shisui came into the stage again, pushing a cage.

"Ah, thank you, Shisui." Haruka thanked the boy before he left the stage.

Haruka stood a few steps away from the cage. She took a deep breath and there was a beat.

Everyone stayed focus on her.

She raised her hand and made her wand appear back. She held the wand with one hand as the other held a light-up match. She set the fire on one end of the wand and blew on the match. The fire slowly went up the wand, creating red sparks. In a swift movement, Haruka's hand moved above the fire to fasten the fire to reach the other end. As soon as it reached the other end, she grabbed the fire and threw it at the direction of the audience.

Instead of fire, a dove flew towards them, surprising everyone.

"W—What?" Obito's jaw dropped down when he saw the dove flew back to the girl, his eyes wide as plates.

Haruka simply smiled before she placed her wand inside the cage. She held the dove perched on her finger out for the audience to see. Her hand grabbed hold of the dove and pulled it apart, revealing another dove in her left hand.

It multiplied to two.

"Eh?!" Rin gasped.

Kakashi blinked, staring at the trick intently.

Haruka caught the surprised looks on the group and her family. She looked around and saw everyone was baffled by the appearance of the second dove.

Kushina clapped her hands loudly, staring at the performance with awe—while Minato's expression was a mixture of amazement and confusion.

She placed the doves inside the cage and pulled out a white handkerchief from her pocket. She held the handkerchief and it quickly went up to be replaced with yet another dove.

Her parents looked amazed and proud, clapping and cheering for her.

The redhead placed the dove inside, taking out a single white feather. She held out the feather, lighting up another match. She light-up the feather and it emits red sparks before burning into another dove.

Never in her second life, that she thought she would see Fugaku staring at her with his jaw dropped.

She held the bird for the audience to see and smiled, motioning her hand and an egg fell down. She caught the egg and placed the dove inside the cage.

The look on Jiraiya's face made her almost laugh. _Almost_.

Shaking the egg a few times, she cracked the egg open, revealing a tiny bird inside. The tiny bird flew to perch on her shoulder before she pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper from her jacket.

The look of awe on Kabuto's face made her smile.

The redhead burned the paper—this time it wasn't a bird, but a cage.

"What?!"

The little bird went inside the cage and she turned around to the side, holding the cage out before turning back to face the audience—another bird in a cage in her left hand.

The smile on the Hokage's face made her feel proud.

 _This is what she has been waiting for._

Shisui came into the stage, taking the two caged birds away.

Haruka rolled her sleeves and went over to the cage of birds behind her.

She covered the cage with the black sheet and she lifted the cage up.

A certain black-haired boy was seen instead of the white doves. He stood on the table, a grin on his face.

People saw that Shisui was the one who took the two caged birds away—so how did he appear in the spot, on stage?

Haruka held her hand out for Shisui, helping him down the table before they both turned to the audience, giving a deep bow.

People clapped for them both endlessly.

Haruka looked up, her eyes catching sight of a man sitting among the crowd. He wasn't clapping like the rest. He was watching. Observing.

The look on Danzō's face made her almost lose her poker face.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"How did we do, Nonō-sensei?"

It was hours after the show and fundraiser had ended. It was a huge success!

I think we made a killing!

Almost everyone who was involved in the event were at the Orphanage's dining hall. Team Minato and all their friends. My family. Shisui's dad. Minato, Kushina and the ino-shika-chou decided to tag along. The performers. Most of the younger kids had gone to bed, so Nonō has to give them the good news tomorrow morning.

Nonō smiled at me, placing her hand on top of my head. "We made more than enough." She announced and we all cheered.

Yes! It works! It works!

Now, Danzō can't pulled the dirty trick of not sending funds to the orphanage! Eat that you, smelly old coot!

"And it's all thanks to you, Haruka-chan." Nonō pulled me in for a hug.

I gladly return the hug. "Nope! It's because of all of you! You guys were the ones who made this possible!" I laughed and pumped my fist up to the sky. "Teamwork~!"

Guy joined me in the victory pose.

Mom giggled and Dad lifted me up, carrying me on his hip.

"But the show's not over yet." Dad said, a smile on his face.

I gave him a confused look.

It ended like hours ago—

 _POP_

"Eh?" I blinked when I heard party poppers being popped. Colorful pieces of papers rain down on me as I could only stare at everyone in front of me with a confused look. "Eh?"

"Happy birthday, Haruka!" everyone chorus.

…

…

Oh yeah… it's my birthday.

"You'd think that we actually forgot, huh?" Kushina grinned, holding a cake with three light-up candles.

I'd never though you'll forgot, but I was the one who actually forgot.

Ups!

I read over the icing on the cake.

 _Happy birthday Haruka  
may your dreams of a magician came true_

I…couldn't help but grin.

"T—Thank you, Kushina-san! Everyone!"

What better way to celebrate my birthday will all of these wonderful people.

Everyone—including the kids and caretakes from the orphanage sang.

 _Happy birthday to you!  
Happy birthday to you!  
Happy birthday, happy birthday~  
Happy birthday to you~_

Even the stuck-up snob Kakashi was singing.

This is the best day ever!

"Make a wish, Haru-chan." Mom said, a smile on her face.

I closed my eyes.

 _I wish—  
I wish to be able to change the plot for the better._

I blew on the candles and everyone clapped.

Mom and dad kissed my cheeks on each side before putting me down.

"Happy birthday, Haruka." Both my parents said as dad pulled out a bouquet of roses from behind his back. I took the bouquet, almost tearing up at the sight of my parents being my parenst. I hugged them and kissed them both. "To my beautiful and talented, daughter. May your future be bright and successful." Dad said, his hand behind my head.

I could only grin bigger.

"So, what did you wish for, Haru-chan?" Obito grinned.

"Idiot, you're not supposed to tell your wish." Kakashi retorted.

Obito snapped to face him. "Why you—Wait! You actually believed it?!" he shouted, pointing his finger at him.

Kakashi looked away. He was lucky that he was wearing that mask.

"Hey, Haruka." While those two bickers, I turned my attention to Shisui and all of a sudden, he pulled— _pulled_ a flower from thin air.

He… he finally did it!

I took the flower. It was a white daisy.

"Happy birthday."

It was the most beautiful flower I have ever seen.

* * *

A/N:

End of chapter 11! I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

The dove magic was inspired by Darcy Oake, while the card one is from Youtube, but they're was no name under him… just google Sleight of Hands card tricks on youtube and you'll find him. And the one with Shisui is from Val Valentino.

There are a few hints on the dove magic with Shisui's appearance!

Thank you all and see you in the next update~

tell me what you guys think of this chapter! I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: special thanks to everyone who has favorited, followed, reviewed and read this story~! You guys are amazing!

Guest: here's an update!

Guest2: thanks!

Big Fan: Thank you~

Guest3: thank you! Here's the next chapter!

Guest4: he was amazing! :D

DoveMagic: thank you!

MoonSerenity: Thank you! Hoho, don't worry Haruka will find away to even make the Uchihas and Hyuugas stunned!

Guest5: LOL! He won't actually do that because everyone would notice if she's missing.

* * *

Act 12  
superior

* * *

It had been almost two weeks since the fundraiser.

I can't believe it's been three years and fourteen days since I was born. Time flies and yet, I'm still three years old. _Three_. I barely reached dad's waist, but at least I'm one year closer to becoming a famous magician!

After the fundraiser, everyone seemed to refer me as Magic Girl or that girl who can do magic. People used to crowd me to ask questions and requests to perform for them then and there. Obito had to step in the crowd to stop them from cornering me.

I remembered, just the day after the show, I was asked to sign my very first autograph! Sadly, my fan doesn't have a paper or book with him. I didn't have any paper either. I have tissues though. So, it was on a piece of tissue paper—but an autograph is an autograph!

I don't want to brag, but we were pretty famous.

That is until—there's rumor that Iwagakure was causing trouble in the borders.

Mine and Shisui's fame immediately went down the drain. Everyone started to focus on the war and people were scared _again_. Just when I thought everything was going great, Iwagakure decided to drop the bomb—I ain't talking about Deidara though, he's not born… yet.

So, thanks Iwagakure— _thanks_ for the fourteen days of fame.

But at least the Orphanage is safe from Danzō's evil clutches.

The Hokage kept a close eye on the Orphanage because Shisui and I was there almost every day. We visit Urushi to ask him to play with us and I'm still bummed that Kabuto was still _so-super-duper_ shy around me—he isn't around Urushi and Shisui though—which makes me more bummed.

Another reason might be because Team Minato was always around, much to Kakashi's chagrin.

Not that I don't like their company or anything, but don't they have something else to do? Like missions and all that protect the village stuffs or something? With rumors of Iwagakure stirring trouble, I actually thought the Kannabi Bridge incident would take place soon.

But it's actually a year away. I figured that the Kannabi would probably happen around next year when Kakashi is around twelve. Now that I think about it, it wasn't any of the three's fault. It was the rock's fault. It hit Kakashi's eye first—making him all woozy and stuff and then Obito saved him and got crushed instead.

So… it's the rock's fault. How am I supposed to stop rocks?

I have no chance against the solid object.

Sigh…

It's actually harder than it looks.

Anyway, during the month, Team Minato was always near us.

They would play with us and keep us company—kinda like little nannies.

Obito and Rin would play with us and tell cool stories about their missions.

Kakashi would sometimes correct our mistakes in kanji—they're so hard, I swear!

Minato and sometimes Kazuo or dad would supervise Shisui in his shuriken throwing and katas—I just sit these out because it's obvious.

Oh! And Kushina sometimes cooks for us! I love, love, _love_ her special home-made curry!

Who am I kidding! Having them around is the best!

I have a lot to do. So, many things to plan and change.

But this just makes me more and more determined to change their future.

These angels don't deserve what's coming for them.

Well, maybe Kakashi still needs to get whacked upside the head to make him be the Kakashi in the future timeline—

But the point is... I love having them around.

-x-x-

* * *

"Hey, Haruka!"

Shisui peeked his head inside my room.

"Yo~" I replied from my bed, giving a two-finger salute. I was laying on my front, writing some stuff in my super-secret diary. It's always weird that even if I have a table right beside my bed, I always use my bed instead. Normal people would've used their desk to write and study, but for me I used my desk and chair to pile up my clothes and books. "Welcome to my crib." I greeted as I continue to write.

"This isn't the first time I've been in your room." I could almost hear Shisui rolling his eyes from the tone of his voice. I heard him close the door. It didn't take him long to reach my bed. The bed creaked under his weight when he sat on the end of my bed. He's lucky that I have steady hands—otherwise there would've been a huge line on the page. "What are you writing anyway?" he peered over, trying to read my writings.

I let him.

He can't understand it anyway.

It was all written in English—something that doesn't exist in this world.

Which reminds me, I need to teach English to Shisui.

Shisui sighed as he leaned back. "I don't get why you write scribbles in your book… you can always do that on paper and not in a book." He laid down on the bed with his hands behind his head.

I hummed in reply. "I like drawing waves." Because to them, written English are like tiny curvy waves. Some might think that writing the future of this world inside a book is a big mistake, but then again—this book is being written by a three-year-old in another language that is completely foreign. They probably think that this is just some scribbles. "It's wavy and all that, makes me feel like I'm at the beach." I continued to write.

I hid my diary like any other kids, under a pillow. I sometimes caught my dad reading—or _trying_ to read my diary. He can't read it though, no matter how long he stares at it. I'm a little hurt that my own parents are snooping in my stuff, but I guess that's what you expect from a kid who's a genius—and might I add— _talented_ and _dashing_ magician.

I also think that dad sometimes takes my diary to show the others. There's a few people I have in mind to who he shows it to—his friends and the Hokage included. I didn't confront him for it because if I _did_ confront him about it, then that means I have something to hide in that diary. They would pester me about what I write and that would just be troublesome because I've already reached half-way of the book. I don't want to translate half a book.

I just let him take it to avoid being questioned.

Though, it's weird that I haven't been called into the Hokage's office. It's been almost two weeks after the fundraiser and still, no one wanted to take me to the office.

Bummer…

I promised to give him to give the answer after April 4th!

I hope it can be soon, because I already know what trick I would use to blow his mind— _cough not literally of course cough_ — and to answer his question. I didn't ask anyone to take me to meet the Hokage because that would just seem that I was eager to join or something.

So, I just pretend to forget—because three-year-olds can be quite forgetful, right?

"Do you want to go to the beach? Why would you wanna go there? I heard that it's a mixture of Sunagakure and Kirigakure altogether. Hot, sandy and wet." Shisui scrunched his nose as he thought of the two villages mixed up together.

I smiled.

Too bad Konoha doesn't have any beaches nearby—otherwise I would've dragged him to one.

Maybe one day, when the war's over. We can all go to the beach.

I don't hate the beach—it's just that I just don't like sand getting inside my clothes and between my toes and hair. This doesn't mean that I don't like Gaara— he's an awesome red-head and all red-heads have to stick together. So, as long as he doesn't shove his sand down on me or sand-coffin me, we're good.

"Kinda. I wanna see the sunset there. I heard that it's pretty." I answered, placing my pen down.

Shisui sat back up when he saw me sitting up. "You finished? Can I see it?" he asked and I nodded. He took my diary and his face scrunched up in confusion. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to understand the meaning behind the wiggly waves. He placed the book down and threw his head back. "I don't understand a single thing on it… It's either some sort of secret code or your handwriting is just so bad that I can't read it." He sighed loudly, cracking an eyelid open to look at me.

I gave him a look. "I'm offended!" I huffed out dramatically, closing the book with a loud snap before placing it under my pillow. "I draw flowers and the sun to make it easy!"

I sometimes draw in the book. It was just a cover to make everyone think that there's nothing other than a three-year-old's drawing book of wiggly waves and random flowers and suns and grass.

Shisui grinned. "You mean those pink dots and a big yellow swirl on top?" moving his fingers to draw in the air.

I had to make it simple and child-like. Plus, I'm not good at drawing landscapes.

"They're roses, for your information." I corrected and climbed down my bed. I stretched my arms above my head and let out a deep breath. I turned to face my black-haired friend—who was still lounging on my bed. "So, what are we gonna do today, Shisui, buddy?" I grinned, placing my hands on my hips.

The boy hummed as he closed his eyes, thinking. "Well… I kinda want to practice the katas tou-san showed me yesterday…" he trailed off and crossed his arms over his chest. He opened his eyes to look at me with a curious look. "But I overheard from tou-san and Minato-san that you'll be going to the Hokage office this afternoon." He sighed.

I blinked.

O-ho?

This is interesting!

Shisui finally had the guts to eavesdrop!

Errr—I _mean_ , the Hokage finally squeezed the time to talk to me in his busy schedule. Hooray~

"Is it about your answer? About going to the Academy or not?" Shisui asked, crossing his legs with his arms still crossed over his chest. The little guy seemed a little excited about this topic. There was a smile on his face and his eyes seemed a bit brighter than usual.

He's already learning how use kunais and shurikens. This guy's been excited about going to the Academy ever since the Hokage offered us to enter early. The minimum age for the entrance is four years old, but for special kids—they can enter at the early age of three.

Geez! These guys were desperate to create some soldiers.

It's a good thing Shisui doesn't remember how to use his sharingan—otherwise he would probably be sent straight to the battlefield.

"Probably~" I answered, looking over to the empty books stacked up on my desk. "But that's still in the afternoon, right? What do you wanna do first?"

I considered teaching Shisui English right now, but I figured that right now is a bit too early.

Perhaps another year or two.

It's never actually mentioned if there are other languages besides Japanese in the anime, but look at it this way… Look at how awesome we'll be to be the very first English-speaker in all the nations?!

How cool is that?

First ever magician _and_ first ever English-speaker!

"I can't practice shuriken or katas here. Oto-san's not around to watch us." Shisui sighed.

I nodded my head in understanding. "Kaa-chan's going back to the bakery after Minato-san's team comes over." I said and headed for the door. "Maybe Minato-san can watch us!" I opened the door and let Shisui out first.

I think I now know the reason behind why Team Minato is always sticking around with us.

We're just that cute and lovable—

—okay, kidding, _kidding_

It's probably because of the Dōjutsu Heist.

I mean, it happened like a month and a half ago.

Who knows how much more dummies out there that will mistake me for an Uzumaki?

Seriously, not anyone who has red hair is an Uzumaki…

The stereotypical is strong in this world…

"Ah, Haru-chan, Shisui-kun, just in time." mom said when she saw us coming into the room. I took a sniff and my stomach practically growled at the delicious smell of my mother's home-cooking. The two of us quickly went over to the dining table and helped mom set the table. "We're having chicken katsu and miso soup today." She smiled, placing the plate of freshly fried chicken.

Look at that delicious crispy thing~

"Looks delicious, Fujino-san! Thank you for having me!" Shisui said politely before he grinned widely.

Mom hid her giggle behind her hand. "Have as much as you want, Shisui-kun. We have plenty!" she said, taking the apron off.

We clapped our hands together.

"Itadakimasu~!" the two of us chorus before digging in.

Shisui is like our family by now. He comes over to eat lunch almost every day. Mom and dad doesn't mind one bit and Kazuo's really grateful that mom was always there to look out for his son when he couldn't. Kazuo also offered to take care of me when mom and dad are busy too! We might as well be siblings!

Speaking of families, we're only two and a half months away from the birth of a legend! I haven't seen Mikoto or Fugaku since the fundraiser, but I'm sure they're living well and healthy. From what Kushina told me, Mikoto's belly is getting bigger and bigger! Which means Itachi's going to be a healthy baby—I hope?

Nothing big has changed so far since I was born.

Everything was going normal—or because I haven't touched any of the official timeline just yet

-except for the fundraiser.

That was big.

 _Really_ big.

I hope we can do it again. It was really fun!

"Gochisousama-deshita."

Before I even knew it, we were finished eating.

We were helping mom do the dishes when we heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it~" I sang, handing the wet plate to Shisui—he was in charge of drying for today—and jumped off from the stool. It was probably Team Minato outside the door. I jogged over to the door and opened the lock. "Welcome home!" I greeted the guests with a grin.

"We're back~!" Obito replied with the same tone, he went inside with Rin, taking their shoes off first before stepping off the genkan. Minato and Kakashi followed suit with Minato closing the door. "You ready to have some fun today?" he ruffled my head.

You betcha I am!

"Welcome back, Minato-san," Mom came out from the kitchen to greet the guests. "Kakashi-kun, Obito-kun, Rin-chan. Thank you for always looking after Haru-chan and Shisui-kun." She turned to face each of the kids, a smile on her face.

"It's no problem at all," Minato replied. His eyes glanced over to Shisui and me, smiling at our way. The two of us smiled back, at least Shisui finally went over his fanboy phase. It was funny while it lasted. He was so polite and shy around Minato—aka his number one inspiration besides his own dad. He still admires the Yellow Flash, but he can hide his excitement now because he has an amazing teacher— _me_. I've been teaching him how to keep his expression cool and under control. "We're happy to watch over them anytime."

I aim to impress and entertain.

"I have to go now, be good to Minato-san and his team, alright?" mom turned to face me.

I gave a salute. "Aye, aye!"

"And Haru-chan?"

I lifted my gaze up to meet my mom's concern-looking brown eyes. "Yeah?" I responded with a smile.

Mom kneeled down in front of me. "I won't be able to accompany you today, but your father promised to take you and be with you the whole time." she held my hands, staring at me right in the eyes. She's talking about the chat I would have this afternoon. "I know you're still young, but whatever path you choose, kaa-chan will always support you." She pressed her lips on my forehead.

I love her.

I really do love my mom.

I pulled a rose from thin air, offering it for mom to take. "Love you, kaa-chan~"

Mom smiled and took the flower, giving my head a soft pat. "I love you too, Haruka." She stood by the door and pointed her finger at me. "Don't forget to do Kushina's homework, okay?" She smiled before leaving.

I waved my hand goodbye.

There was thirty seconds of silence.

"You two forgot, now didn't you?" Kakashi broke the silence, his eyes staring at the door.

Shisui stiffened. "Uh… no?" he sounded uncertain with his answer. Looks like somebody needs work on his lying skills~

Kushina decided that it was time to teach us basic kanji. I love Kushina, I really do, but I can't really write kanji that good. Kakashi here is living proof that I basically suck. I really don't see what the big deal is. I wrote exactly what the book said and Kakashi still nags me because I mixed up which strokes comes first.

The silver-haired boy sighed.

"C'mon, Bakashi! Let them skip for today!" Obito came to our defense.

Kakashi turned his head to face his teammate. "Do you want them to get scolded by Kushina-san?" he retorted.

Obito blinked before realizing the consequences if we skipped our homework. "Sorry guys… I can't bail you out of this one." He said, his shoulders sagged down in disappointment.

"You made it sound like they did something bad, Obito-kun." Rin giggled before ushering us kids to the living room. Shisui's bag was already beside the low table while my books were still upstairs in my room. "Haru-chan, why don't you get your book while we prepare some snacks?" she smiled at me.

We just had lunch, but I'm not complaining!

More food~

I gave a salute before running towards the stairs.

"No running!" I heard Minato chided.

I was already on the second floor when he chided me. I went over to the pile of books stacked up on my deck. I picked up my pencil, eraser and the two kanji books Kushina gave me. It was easy and basic, but for someone who has been writing and using English for more than twenty years was a bit hard. I had to learn it though. It's actually a bad thing, the reason behind me learning kanji, but how else am I supposed to copy other's hand-writing if I can't write kanji?

I came back down and Shisui already had a head start! That cheater!

I sat down beside him, opening the book to the last page I've been working on.

Sigh~

I was hoping we could play Fuun-hime together.

"Wrong."

"Aw, c'mon Kakashi-niisan! It'll end up the same anyway—"

"Do it again."

"But _why_?"

"Because that's not how you write it."

"No one knows."

"I _know_. And it's wrong. Do it again."

I let out a groan and leaned back to lay on the carpeted floor. This was the fifth time Kakashi caught me writing kanji not in the order I'm supposed to. I had to redo it a few times. Why can't he just stare at Shisui's work instead of mine? He did the same mistake as I did and he wasn't told to do it again.

I sense favoritism here.

So unfair…

I sat back up and decided to redo the kanji one more time. I peered over to Shisui and he was already finished with his kanji. He was doing math now. Easy math, might I add.

I can do math.

I know the answer to 2 apples plus 2 apples.

Try something harder Minato.

"Obito-nii has six apples. He gave two to Minato-san and one to Kakashi-nii. Then, Rin-nee gave him two more apples. When Obito-nii saw Haruka and me, he gave us each one of his apples. How many apples does Obito-nii has now?" Shisui read the problem Minato wrote on his book loudly. He hummed in thought as he balanced his pencil above his upper lip.

Does it have to be apples though?

The answer is easy! It's too many apples for one person to eat, Obito should share some again.

Just kidding, it's three.

"How about writing the number of apples one by one?" Minato suggested, pointing to the question he made. "And then add the equations."

A minute passed and Shisui got the answer, "Oh! It's three!"

Congrats, Shisui!

"Focus." Kakashi cleared his throat, staring down at me sternly from where he sat.

"C'mon, Haru-chan! You can do it!" Obito cheered from where he sat on the couch.

I puffed out my cheeks and did what I was told.

"Hey, wanna see something cool?" I suddenly said, placing my pencil down.

Shisui turned his head to face me. "What?"

I raised my book and turned it to show everyone. "You see these pages?" I asked and everyone nodded. I skimmed through the pages, showing that it was indeed empty. "Now watch!" I snapped the book shut.

I slapped the cover once and opened the book.

"I'm finished~!" I skimmed through the pages again, showing them that the empty pages have been filled with the kanji inside the other book. I placed the book down, opening it for everyone to see.

"What the he—!" Obito quickly slapped his hand over his mouth, stopping himself from cursing. He grabbed the book and squinted his eyes to examine the book. He kept flipping from page to page. "Why wasn't this a thing back when we were in the Academy?!" he complained, slouching on the couch. "It would save us sooo much time from doing homework!" he sighed.

"Obito!" Rin scolded, frowning a little.

Shisui took my book from Obito, inspecting it with Minato. "Cool! How did you do that?!" he kept flipping through the pages, only to find not a single page was left out. It wasn't fake if that's what he's wondering. It is completely handwritten by yours truly. "Do mine next!" he quickly gave me his book, grinning from ear to ear.

I took his book and Kakashi took it away from me.

"That's cheating." Kakashi crossed his arms.

I whined. "But that's really my handwriting! I just got a helping hand from the future." I gave an excuse. It wasn't my best one, I admit.

He didn't seem to buy it.

"Still cheating. Do it over. I want to see you do it." Kakashi stared me down.

I threw my head back, groaning in despair.

When will you admit that I'm awesome, Kakashi?

"C'mon, Bakashi, that was impressive!" Obito said, defending me.

Kakashi turned to look at him, giving a deadpan look.

Minato chuckled. "How about we take a break and go outside for now?" he offered.

The saint has spoken!

Shisui closed his book. "Can we practice our shuriken?" he asked politely, turning his head in hopes Minato will let him practice.

We—I mean, _he_ can't practice in my garden because there's too many of mom's flowers. Wouldn't want any stray shuriken to cut through my mom's flowers, right? If Shisui wants to practice his shuriken it would usually be in Team Minato's training ground or at his house. I would usually just sit back and watch the competition with Rin and Minato.

Obito and Shisui usually had a friendly competition which usually ended with Obito somehow dragging Kakashi into the competition.

"I don't see why not," Minato replied, standing up. "The Academy's training room should be empty by now." He glanced over to the clock. It was around two now.

Wow! I can't believe we've been sitting around here for two hours!

"The… Academy?" Shisui seemed to be the most excited out of all of us.

Wait… the Academy?

Isn't that like near the Hokage Tower?

Oh-ho-ho-ho!

So, that's it!

You just don't want to walk all the way to the training grounds and back to my house and then to the Hokage Tower, huh, Minato?

Nah—I'm pretty sure that's not the reason—

 _Right_?

Well, either way, might as well come with!

"Fieldtrip~" I raised my hand up high.

Kakashi karate-chopped my head. "Not a fieldtrip, brat."

He really can't come up with a better insult. Probably because my hair's close to red and if he insults red hair, Kushina will beat him to Kumo and back.

We took less than five-minutes to get ready.

We weren't in a hurry, so we took the long way to get to the Academy. By long way, I mean by walking—not jumping from roof to roof. If we want to get to the Academy, we have to pass by the market and two parks. It's not actually far—but probably takes around twenty, I guess? I never counted, but I enjoy the walks! Walking around Konoha is like walking through a traditional, but modern Japanese street. Walking in the Uchiha compound is like walking through the Edo-period. I dunno about the other four noble clans—but I expect the same.

The market wasn't as busy as two-weeks ago.

I'm a little bummed.

"We're here." Minato announced.

I looked at the building. It's actually taller than I imagined! There's probably… five to six floors? There's a lot of windows though. The roofs were painted orange to match the Hokage Tower's. The walls were white too—oh! Look! There's the famous swing! I can't believe that it's been there since Kakashi's time. I have to sit on it. I just have to!

"This sure brings back memories, huh?" Rin giggled, staring at the building.

Obito crossed his hands behind his neck. "Yeah!"

"You were late for the opening ceremony." Kakashi reminded, not turning to look at the other boy when he glared at him, threatening to punch the masked-boy if he continues. "And then you were late for the graduation ceremony." He added and took a step back to avoid a fist to the face. "Typical idiot."

Obito's face was flushed red. "S—Shut up!" he huffed out.

"Now, now, let's not start a fight." Minato stood in between them.

Rin laughed nervously as she leaded us to the building.

"Ah, is that you, Rin-kun?"

A voice stopped us from walking further.

"Daikoku-sensei, it's been awhile." Rin bowed politely, greeting the Academy teacher.

Wait, isn't Daikoku the Uchiha-praising-sensei that was always boasting about how Itachi was in his class and his best student? Hmm, he has that same goatee and that smile. He seems nice though.

"It has, hasn't it?" Daikoku laughed jovially, tucking a folder under his arm. His eyes traveled to us standing beside Rin. He blinked twice when he saw us. "Now, who are these two?" he asked with a smile, crouching down to our level.

"I'm Shisui! Uchiha Shisui! It's nice to meet you!" Shisui introduced himself cheerfully, giving a respective bow to the man.

I cleared my throat and pulled a flower for the man. "And I'm Haruka. Nice to meet you, sensei." He's going to be Itachi's future sensei, gotta make an impression, you know?

Daikoku blinked in astonishment. "Ah, you're Haruka-kun! I heard a lot about you from the fundraiser." He took the flower, laughing a little. He stood back up to his full height, holding the flower in one hand. "Where are you headed?" he asked.

"I wanted to practice my shuriken!" Shisui said excitedly. I never actually imagined Shisui being this excited, but he's turning four this year, so it's natural for kids to be this excited, I guess.

"I see. Best of luck, Shisui-kun." Daikoku smiled at the black-haired boy. "I have to get back to class now, but I look forward to teaching the two of you." He waved his hand goodbye, bidding us farewell.

"See you later, Daikoku-sensei!" Rin bowed her head, watching the man enter the Academy.

He's a nice guy.

I guess I'll see him next year.

Rin turned to face us. "We can go on ahead while Minato-sensei break those two from fighting." She said and the two of us nodded, walking around the building to the back side. "We can stop by the supply room to borrow some shuriken."

I did a few research on the Academy on my own. The curriculum is actually divided into two after the first year of basic combat and knowledge. The first course—the A course, is the path to become a shinobi. The second one—the B course, is the path for civilians. Kids can choose if they wanted to continue to serve the village by becoming a shinobi or just follow in their parents' footsteps as a merchant and the likes. But from what I gathered, most kids wanted to become a shinobi—because it's the most respected job here.

You'll be seen as a hero of war or something like that.

So, whether I want to or not to become a shinobi, I would have to endure a year full of basic shinobi stuff.

—because it's mandatory in the time of war.

It's only a matter of time.

Or the other way is to avoid it is get home-schooled instead.

Lol

But I doubt there's such a thing as home-school here.

Call me crazy, but I'm trying to hold the two of us back for at least a year.

I managed to hold Shisui back from entering this Spring, but can I really hold him back when he wanted to try and enter in Autumn?

I probably can—

 _No_.

I'm certain I can.

I'm Fujino Haruka! Magician Extraordinaire!

"Here we are! The shuriken practice area."

We were in a rather large area. There were logs with a dart's board nailed to it. The boards were chipped in so many places that it was hard to tell if it wasn't for the bright colors. Just like Minato said, the training area was empty at this hour.

Rin took us to the closest line to the logs. It was about five meters, I think?

"Here you go," Rin gave us each a shuriken pouch. "They're not as sharp, but please be careful when using them." She smiled kindly.

Oh, her smile melts my heart.

Don't worry, Rin! Those Kiri-nins won't ever touch you!

I'm already thinking of a way to stop it.

"Thanks, Rin-nee!" Shisui grinned before turning to face the logs.

I calculated the weight of the shurikens. Boy! They were heavier than I thought… Ninjas carried these all day? I applaud you fellas!

"Would you like to try, Haru-chan?" Rin offered, placing her hands on her knees when she saw me moving the pouch up and down.

I hummed in respond. "I'd like to try!" I grinned, taking one out from the pouch and putting the rest on the ground beside my feet.

"Okay, now put one foot forward and one foot back." Rin instructed and I did as I was told. I glanced over to mimic Shisui's stance. I raised the shuriken above my head and Rin corrected my grip. "Don't hold it by the ring, just a little—yes, like that!" she said.

I threw the shuriken and it missed by a long shot!

Shisui sniggered behind his hand.

I gave him a deadpan look.

"At least you got the stance right." Shisui flashed me a wink, giving a thumbs up.

Rin nodded her head in agreement. "You can try again, Haru-chan. Everyone doesn't get it right at their first try. It took me a few tries to hit the log." She encouraged.

I tried again. It didn't even reach the log!

I'm good at knife-throwing, but shurikens were another thing. The position was basically the same, but the weights were different.

It's actually harder than it looks!

I tried once more.

 _thunk_

…it's not a bull's eye, but at least I hit it.

That's an improvement.

"Nice one, Haru-chan!" Rin clapped her hands, beaming with pride and excitement.

Shisui whistled. "Nice~"

I puffed my chest out proudly. "I'm going to ace this!" I walked towards the boards and plucked the only shuriken on the board off before running further to get the other shurikens. Shisui followed my steps and picked up his shurikens on the board. "But these things are heavy!" I held the three shurikens.

"You'll get used to them." Shisui smiled. "Kunais are actually heavier, but if you train every day, it'll be as light as a feather!"

I hummed. I kneeled down to put away the shurikens back into the pouch. "You know what's also light?" I asked as I stood back up, turning to face Rin and Shisui. The two of them looked a little confused.

"Senbon?" Shisui answered, tilting his head.

I fished something out from the pocket of my jacket. "Cards." I grinned, sliding the deck of cards to a fan.

"You…can't use cards as shurikens, can you?" Shisui looked unsure, turning to look at Rin for some answers.

Rin placed a hand on her chin, thinking. "I never heard of it before…"

I winked at them before turning to face the log.

I put one foot forward and the other foot back. I held the card horizontally between my thumb and middle finger, while my index finger rests on the corner of the car. I flicked my wrist briskly outward, propelling the card to the board.

 _thud_

"No way!" Shisui exclaimed.

Rin clapped her hands together. "That's amazing, Haru-chan!"

Bull's eyes, baby!

"Can I try?" Shisui asked, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.

I handed him my cards.

The first attempt didn't really go so well…

It flew back to him, but that didn't stop him from learning how to throw cards.

"This is hard! What's your trick?" Shisui turned to face me, demanding for an advice.

"Don't throw it like a shuriken." I grinned, showing him my hand.

* * *

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 _thud_

Minato observed from the trees. The squabble between Kakashi and Obito ended a few minutes after Rin, Shisui and Haruka left for the training field. He concealed his chakra signature, but made sure that Rin know where they are. Both Shisui and Haruka doesn't seem to notice their presence—which was good.

"Did… she just used a _card_?" Obito asked, completely baffled by the fact that a card could be used as a weapon.

Kakashi rolled his eyes, but he didn't retort.

' _Haruka has proven to be more talented that we thought…'_ Minato stared at the two kids and his student. The three of them looked like they were having fun trying to learn how to throw cards. He smiled a little at the sight, but his smiled disappeared as soon as the thought of the meeting the Hokage this afternoon. _'As talented as they are… they are still too young.'_ He sighed softly.

"That looks fun." Obito grinned. "I'm gonna join them!" he jumped down from where he stood and jogged over towards the group.

Kakashi clicked his tongue. "Idiot…" he followed his teammates in a slower pace.

Minato smiled, shaking his head.

During the time they spent together, he was evaluating whether or not Haruka and Shisui were ready for the Academy. If deemed skillful and ready, they would be recommended to join the Academy in the next term. Shisui was very excited to join, but Haruka on the other hand wasn't into being a shinobi. Even though, every kid can choose whether they want to continue their career as a shinobi or not after the first year, he was certain that the council will push Haruka to the shinobi career—whether she likes it or not.

The blond glanced over to his right. "Tadashi." He greeted.

The auburn-haired man nodded his head in greeting. "It's almost time." he sighed out. "The council's there as well." He truly didn't understand why the council would want to see Haruka too.

Minato placed his hand on the man's shoulder. "No matter what, the decision still falls to her hands." He smiled a little, encouraging the father of the child.

Tadashi closed his eyes. "Right…" he said.

The two Jounin shunshined away.

They reappeared a few meters away from the group of kids.

"Tou-chan!" Haruka waved her hand excitedly at her father.

Tadashi's heart clenched at the sight of her daughter. He smiled in return, waving his hand to her. After the fundraiser, the council had been pestering him about his daughter's abilities. He couldn't hide her anymore. He didn't just want to give his daughter up so easily to the council. He tried hard to find a way for them to stop trying to push his daughter to war.

"You seemed to be having fun without, Tou-chan!" Tadashi hid his concerns with a childish pout. Though his face didn't show it, his eyes showed his true emotions.

"With Tou-chan, everything is two times fun!" Haruka giggled behind her hand, fanning herself with her cards.

Tadashi laughed. "Only two?" he bends down, ruffling his daughter's hair.

"You're right, it's more than two that it's uncountable!"

The auburn-haired man stood up. "Are you ready to see Hokage-sama? He's really looking forward to see you." He said.

"Can Shisui come with?" Haruka glanced over to the boy.

Tadashi smiled at the boy's direction. "Sorry, Haru-chan, but it's just going to be us."

Haruka whined before turning to the young Uchiha. "Sorry Shisui… I'll tell you everything that happens inside. Promise!" she held out her fist, waiting for the boy.

Shisui shook his head. "Don't worry about it! And you better! I wanna know what you did inside to wow Hokage-sama!" the two of them fist-bumped.

Two two Jounin left with the little redhead, leaving the group of chuunin and Shisui behind in the training field. It was a pleasant walk despite how things will turn out later. Haruka was telling her father about her day. The way she described it made the two men laugh at her childish explanation.

Haruka held her father's hand as she kept telling them her day. She wasn't an expert like her father when reading someone's expression, but she knew from one look that her father was worried and stressed. She didn't know why her father was so stressed about. It wasn't like she was going to die or anything. She was just going to talk to the Hokage about entering the Academy or not.

The Hokage Tower was filled with shinobis walking around.

It made her think that this was some sort of big incorporate.

The higher they went up, the tighter the security was.

By the end of the hall, there was a green door, guarded by two men wearing masks.

 _Anbu_.

' _Just how important is this?'_ Haruka's eyes flickered from one Anbu to the other. _'I know I'm famous, but I'm not that rich to afford bodyguards yet.'_ She hid her snigger with a grin.

"Tou-chan," Haruka suddenly called out to them both. "Before we go in, there's something I want you to do." She smiled up at them.

Tadashi kneeled down in front of his daughter, ready to comfort her.

"I want you to hold on to this piece of paper." Haruka handed him a piece of paper folded in fourth.

"What for, Haru-chan?" Tadashi took the paper nevertheless.

"It's for a surprise!" Haruka pressed her finger against her lips.

Minato was the one who opened the door.

Haruka wanted to whistle.

Inside was the complete deck.

The Hokage and his council. Plus Shikaku.

She greeted them with a respectful bow. "Good afternoon, Hokage-sama, Honorary Council, Shikaku-san."

Tadashi and Minato did the same.

This turned out better than she expected. She was expecting it just to be the three of them plus the Hokage. It wouldn't surprise her if Danzo wanted to join in on the conversation. He was there when she was doing her show in the fundraiser. But now, Homura and Kotaru too?

The redhead grinned.

Change of plans, she's going to use them now!

' _She's not a sensor.'_ Minato's eyes flickered over to the directions where he sensed the chakra signatures. Though there wasn't anyone in the room besides them, there were more hiding in the ceilings. _'That's good… otherwise she would've felt the pressure in this room.'_

"It's been awhile hasn't it, Haruka-kun?" Hiruzen greeted, a chuckle escaped his lips. He placed the pipe down and folded his hands on the table. "Firstly, I would like to congratulate on the success of the fundraiser. You did a splendid job." He commented.

Haruka grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I couldn't have done it without everyone! We all helped and made the fundraiser a success!"

Hiruzen smiled. "Indeed. Teamwork is very valuable in order to make a mission successful." He said and Haruka couldn't help but nod her head in agreement. "I've heard a lot of great things from you, Haruka-kun. You were deemed talented and qualified to join the Academy along with Shisui-kun. I would like to know if you wish to do so." He went straightly to the point.

The auburn-haired girl simply smiled.

"I've learned that in the first year, we would all do basic shinobi stuff and after that we get to choose if we want to continue or not." Haruka began, listing off the facts she gathered earlier.

' _Just like her father… she can gather information quite well.'_

"But I already made up my mind. I want to be a magician!" the girl answered, a big grin across her face. "I appreciate your offer, Hokage-sama, but I don't want to be a shinobi." she added.

"I see," Hiruzen closed his eyes, nodding solemnly.

"You do not wish to be a shinobi, child?" one of the council, Utatane Koharu, asked, looking at the girl with an unreadable expression.

Haruka shook her head with a smile. "Afraid not, madam."

"There is no such career as a magician." Shimura Danzō spoke.

 _Yet_. Haruka wanted to say.

Tadashi cleared his throat, turning everyone's attention to him instead of his daughter. "Pardon me, Danzō-sama, but my daughter—"

"Has made the wrong decision." Danzō finished, his eye closed. Though Shikaku managed to keep his coold, Minato and Tadashi's eyes widened at his reply while Haruka looked like she was taking this not too seriously. Not matter how much Tadashi wanted to punch the man for straight out crushing his daughter's dream, he couldn't. "Your skills will be much useful and needed in the field, rather than for entertainment."

The man had read her files and the reports his Anbu had gave him. He watched her perform live and he was determined to make her become a shinobi.

Hiruzen sighed. "Danzō—"

"He is right, Hiruzen." Homura nodded his head in agreement with Danzō's comment. "The girl will become a great spy even with her current skills."

"Thank you~" Haruka responded. "But my mind is already made up."

The Hokage gave one more sigh before opening his eyes, "Haruka-kun, might you consider one more time? Your skills will truly help us in this war."

The pressure was on now.

Haruka took a step forward, "Before I answer, Hokage-sama, I have one request." When the Hokage gave her permission to continues, she smiled. "I would like to perform a magic trick for you."

Hiruzen blinked before he laughed. "Certainly. I would love to see your performance, Haruka-kun."

The tension inside the room ceased.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama!" Haruka grinned back.

The little magician walked around the room, pulling out a few sheets of blank paper. "I have these blank papers. Hokage-sama, I want you to pick one." She came up to their table. She stood on her toes in order to show the papers to the man. She placed the papers neatly on the table. "You can pick whichever color you like."

Hiruzen smiled, taking a blue paper.

"Now, I want Hokage-sama to write a name on the paper. It can be tou-chan's or Minato-san's or even someone not in this room." Her teal-green eyes glanced around the room, meeting the eyes of the council's watchful eyes. She didn't lose her cool even under Danzō's cold gaze. "But don't show the paper to me, okay? Keep it a secret!" she pressed her finger on her lips.

"Alright." Hiruzen chuckled as he placed the brush down.

"Next, I want Hokage-sama to crumble the paper into a ball and place it on my hand." Haruka stood on her toes again to face the Hokage, holding her hand out for the man to place the paper ball on her palm. The Hokage did as told, placing the ball on her palm and his hand twitched when he felt a static. "Ups! Sorry, for that, Hokage-sama!" she apologized, a sheepish look across her face.

"Static?" Hiruzen smiled.

Haruka laughed. "No, that was actually you passing over your thoughts into my own." She took a few steps back, rolling the paper ball between her palms. "Without even looking at this paper, I know the person you wrote on this paper." She held the paper ball out with her hand.

The redhead pocketed the paper ball into her pocket and pulled out another blank paper. It was smaller compared to the others. She also pulled out a tiny scissor and began to cut the paper. "Kaa-chan taught me how to fold an origami. I can only make flowers and paper cranes at the moment, oh and boats and hats too! Shisui and I sometimes make paper boats to see which one can hold the longest in a boat race." She rambled on and on as she continues to cut the paper. She cleared her throat when she realized that she has been telling useless information. "Ehem—sorry… now, Hokage-sama, the person you're thinking is a boy correct?" she lifted her gaze up.

Hiruzen nodded his head. "Correct."

"This boy was in the same class as Rin-neesan and Obito-niisan for a few years, correct?"

"Correct."

"Let's see… he graduated and he's planning to take the chunnin exam in Autumn, right?" Haruka pocketed the small safety scissors and held the folded paper in her hand.

The man behind the table raised an eyebrow. "…correct."

"Hokage-sama, this is the boy you're thinking of." Haruka unfolded the paper and held it in front of her dark colored jacket to show a clear silhouette of Hiruzen's youngest son. "Asuma-niisan!" she said proudly.

There was silence between them.

Hiruzen laughed, clapping his hands. "Fantastic show, Haruka-kun! You never cease to impress me." He leaned forward, his hands folded under his chin.

The redhead bowed and placed the cut-out paper on the table, for Hiruzen to take as a souvenir. "Before my final trick," she pulled out the crumbled blue paper and held it out. With her left hand, she pulled out a lit-up match from her jacket. She burned the paper ball and her hands quickly clamped over the ball, stopping the fire from spreading. "A blue rose, just as requested." She opened her hand slowly, holding a blue rose.

"Biwako would love this." Hiruzen gladly took the rose, placing it in front of him. "Thank you, Haruka-kun."

Shikaku stared at the redhead with a small smile. His eyes glanced over to the girl's father and her babysitter. A frown replaced his smile. He knew how hard it is for the father to just stand there and do nothing as the council kept pestering the little girl to become a shinobi. Tadashi looked as if he wanted to punch Danzō right out of his chair for forcing his daughter to accept. On the other hand, Haruka seemed to be taking the council's words with an unreadable expression. She kept calm and listened to what the council has to say.

Though the final decision is in her hands, it was impossible for her now.

They were not going to let a prodigy slipped pass that easily.

The Nara's eyes watched as Haruka reached her hand inside to take something out.

Cards.

"Before I gave my final answer, I have one final act." Haruka began to shuffled the cards, springing it from one hand to another. "But I would like assistance from Hokage-sama himself and the Honorary council. Do I have permission?" she smiled, shuffling the cards as she waited for an answer.

Hiruzen nodded his head. "Certainly."

Homura exchanged glances with Koharu before turning to look at Danzō who just stared at the girl standing in front of them. "You may."

The cards made a sound when it sprang from one hand to the other. "Fantastic~" she smiled as she placed the card of the table, spreading it across on the table. "In a deck of 52 cards, there consist of 4 suits, with 13 kinds in each suit." She turned the cards over, showing the face of the cards.

"Homura-sama, if I may start with you, if I asked you to choose a color between red or black, which would you choose?" Haruka asked, turning to the man sitting on Hiruzen's left.

Homura glanced over to the cards. "Red." He answered, his eyes staring sharply at the girl.

"Awesome." Haruka replied before turning to the aged woman sitting beside Homura. "Koharu-sama, the red cards have 2 suits, the hearts and diamonds, if I may ask you to choose, which suit would you pick?" she continued.

"The heart." Koharu answered without glancing at the cards in front of Hiruzen.

"The heart! Okay." Haruka turned to look at the last member of the council. "Danzō-sama, if I may ask you, which face would you choose? It can be any numbers or a Jack, King or Queen or Ace."

Danzo-stared at the child. "Ace."

The redhead smiled. "Great! So, the Red Ace of Heart." She took her cards back from the table. "Hokage-sama, you're the man in charge here. I'm giving Hokage-sama the chance if Hokage-sama wants to keep the Ace of Heart or change it to another one. Any card is alright. You can pick anything you like." She took a few steps back, facing the man in the white robe.

Hiruzen smiled, leaning forward on his chair. "I would like to keep the Ace of Heart." He answered without a doubt.

"Okay now, there's no way I would've known that everyone choose the Ace of Hearts. Now, before I enter this room, I gave tou-chan a piece of paper." Haruka turned to look at her father, a gentle smile as she looked at him. Her father's eyes widened for a second, just as everyone else in the room. "I can predict the future and I predicted what card Hokage-sama and the Honorary council will choose this very day. Tou-chan, can you please open the paper now?"

Tadashi took the piece of folded paper from his pocket and opened the paper. There was something in his heart that told him that it was impossible, but when his eyes saw the red head and the letter A on the corner, he was shocked.

The man turned the paper around for everyone to look at the answer.

The Ace of Heart.

Shikaku's eyes widened in realization.

He didn't know if anyone else noticed it.

But the trick has a hidden message behind it.

The Nara averted his gaze to the redhead. She noticed that he was staring at her and she gave him a wink and a smile. The result of the magic wasn't what she was aiming for. She was testing the Hokage when she asked him the final question and he _failed_.

 _The one in charge here is you, Hokage-sama._

* * *

A/N:

HOOOO! Will they pester her even more? Find our more next chapter~

To all the KH fan reading this fic…. Have you guys seen the fantastic trailer at D23?! IT WAS AMAZING! I was just speechless!

Well anyways, thank you for reading this chapter 😃

The first trick Haruka performed is from Richard jones, but I modified it a little. The last one is from Jamie Raven.

What do you guys think will happen next?


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